Monica Seles was enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame during a
ceremony Saturday on the grass courts in Newport, R.I. And even on a day of
celebration, Seles was comfortable talking about her on-court stabbing 16 years
ago.

"I talk about it openly," she said at a news conference before the ceremony. She
added: "When we were talking about me going into the Hall of Fame it was,
`Should we include the stabbing or not?' Unfortunately it's part of my career. I
wish it wasn't. It's a long, long time ago."

Seles, 35, was ranked No. 1 for a total of 178 weeks and won eight of her nine
Grand Slam singles titles before the stabbing.

On April 30, 1993, in Hamburg, Germany, the top-ranked Seles was seated during a
changeover at a match when a crazed fan stabbed her between the shoulder blades.
It was two and a half years before she returned to the sport.

"Coming back in Toronto after my stabbing, I viewed my career in two phases:
before stabbing and after stabbing," she said. "The reception that I got just
reinforced my decision to return."

Seles won that tournament, the Canadian Open, one of 53 titles in her career.

Seles was inducted into the Hall along with Andres Gimeno, Donald Dell and
Robert Johnson. Gimeno, elected in the master's player category, is the oldest
player ever to win the French Open, at 34 years 10 months. Dell, elected in the
contributor category, was a United States Davis Cup member who later helped
promote and market tennis. Johnson, inducted posthumously, helped desegregate
the sport.