Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - The once-great Monica Seles may
have finally retired from the sport of tennis last week, but her "15
minutes of fame" aren't up just yet, as the nine-time Grand Slam
singles champion will return to the spotlight on the ABC hit series
"Dancing with the Stars" next month.

Last week, the 34-year-old star officially announced her retirement
from tennis, even though she hadn't played a WTA Tour match in almost
five years after suffering a foot injury.

On March 17, however, Seles will make her ballroom dancing debut, as
she'll be one of 12 (B-List) celebrities on an all-new season of
"Dancing," or "DWTS," if you will. She'll be joined by such luminaries
as actress Shannon Elizabeth; magician Penn Jillette, who is half of
the famous illusionist team of Penn & Teller; occasional actress
Priscilla Presley, the former wife of Elvis; NFL Man of the Year Jason
Taylor, of the Miami Dolphins; and 1992 Olympic gold medal figure
skater Kristi Yamaguchi.

My guess is that Seles is a better tennis player than a dancer, but
we'll just have to tune in and find out.

The one-time world No. 1 from the former Yugoslavia was dominating
women's tennis in the early 1990s before that infamous stabbing
incident in Germany.

A deranged Steffi Graf fan made his way onto the court on April 30,
1993 and plunged a knife between Seles' shoulder blades during a
quarterfinal match against Magdalena Maleeva in Hamburg. The injuries
only took a few weeks to heal, but the psychological damage was done,
as the powerful southpaw stayed off the tour for more than two years
following the crime.

Seles became the youngest-ever French Open champion in 1990, at the
tender age of 16, and ruled the circuit in 1991 and 1992 by winning
six-of-eight Grand Slams, only to see her career derailed by one
Gunter Parche (the knifeman). She would miss 10 straight major events
from 1993-95, six of which were won by Graf, who claimed an
unstoppable four straight Slams at one point during the stretch.

Parche, of course, was charged following the violent incident, but was
never jailed because he was found to have psychological problems.
Instead, he was sentenced to two years' probation and psychological
treatment. Seles, who became an American citizen in 1994 during her
tragedy-induced hiatus, vowed never to play tennis in Germany again.

Can't say I blamed her.

When Seles finally returned to the tour in 1995, she enjoyed some
immediate success, but was never quite the same player. She soared all
the way to the U.S. Open finale shortly after her return and captured
the Australian Open in 1996 to mark her last major championship.

Prior to the attack, she won the French Open three straight years from
1990-92 and captured three straight Aussie Open titles from 1991-93.
She also rattled off consecutive U.S. Open championships in '91 and
'92, as only the coveted Wimbledon championship eluded her grasp.
Seles reached a Wimbledon final in 1992, but succumbed to her
arch-rival Graf.

FYI, Seles was an unbelievable 33-0 at the Aussie Open before she lost
to Martina Hingis in the semifinals there in 1999. Her first four
trips to Melbourne all resulted in titles.

Seles' last Grand Slam final came at the 1998 French Open, where she
lost to Hall-of-Famer Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario. All told, Seles
appeared in 13 major finals, going 9-4. She set a women's record by
winning her first six Grand Slam finals, all this by the ripe old age
of 18, and she topped Graf in three of their first four meetings in
Grand Slam title bouts.

The popular Seles performed in nine-of-12 major finals at one point,
winning eight of 'em from 1990-93.

She played her first professional tournament when she was only 14
years old, in 1988, and joined the tour on a full-time basis the
following year. Seles beat the legendary Chris Evert in a final in
Houston in May of 1989 for her first career title, at the age of 15,
and finished her first year on the tour at No. 6 in the world. Amazing!

In 1991, Seles became the youngest-ever woman, at the time, to ascend
to No. 1, and would wind up with 53 singles and six doubles
championships. She also captured a bronze medal for the U.S. at the
2000 Summer Games in Sydney.

In 2003, she succumbed to the aforementioned foot injury, an injury
that, in effect, would end her what-could-have-been career.

The Sarasota, Florida resident earned $14.891 million in career prize
money, which is good for ninth place all-time, and is also ninth on
the women's all- time titles ledger.

Seles was best known for those punishing two-fisted groundstrokes and
a dominating return game. She's widely regarded as the first "power
player" in women's tennis, paving the way for such stars as Venus and
Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Maria Sharapova, etc. She was also
known for, unintentionally, distracting her opponents with that famous
on-court shriek.

A quick mover in her prime, a fleet Seles chopped up her opponents
with sharp-angle shots and heavy top spin. And (again, in her prime)
she was one of the best, if not the best, "big point" players around.

Let's see how clutch she is in the ballroom.