Lost in a sports weekend dominated by Tom Watson's fountain-of -youth chase for
the silver claret jug at the British Open and an aging Lance Armstrong spinning
his wheels in the Tour de France, was Monica Seles' induction into the
International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I., Saturday afternoon.

For most die-hard tennis fans, Seles will forever be frozen in time, using those
gangly long legs to run down balls before fearlessly bashing one of her
two-fisted groundies off the baseline while eliciting her trademark duo-syllabic
grunt: "UH! HUH!''

And then of course, smiling as you watched this delightful moppy-haired teen
lifting another Grand Slam trophy and then listening to her rambling,
giggle-laced postmatch interview with Bud Collins.

Sadly, for some, Seles will be remembered as one of sports' tragic figures whose
tennis legacy and life was tarnished by a deranged, knife-wielding German fan
who stabbed her in the upper back during a changeover of a quarterfinal match in
Hamburg, Germany on April 30, 1993.

The madman was a countryman and fanatical fan of tennis great Steffi Graf, who
explained later that he wanted her to return to No. 1, the mantel Seles had
wrested from her from Sept. 9, 1991 to June 6, 1993 (91 weeks, 178 weeks
overall).

Not only did the wacko get his wish as Graf retuned to No. 1 two months later,
but all he was given for the heinous attack was a two-year suspended sentence
and mandatory psychological treatment.

Seles was just 19, and had already won eight Slams, including seven of the
previous eight majors she played in before the stabbing. There was no reason to
doubt she would someday overtake the 18 major singles titles won by modern-day
greats' Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.

However, while her back healed fine, the psychological scars remained. A
traumatized Seles didn't play again for 28 months, and heroically, won her
comeback event in Canada (one of 53 titles) and then reached the finals of the
U.S. Open in her next tournament, where she lost to Graf.

But Seles was never the same mentally or physically. The grunt was still there
but the giggle was gone.

Going through bouts of depression, marked by binge eating, she won just one more
Slam after the stabbing, the 1996 Australian Open. Injuries and disappointment
in her falling rank forced her off the tour six years ago at 30.

Not to take anything away from Graf, one of the sports' most elegant, athletic
champions of all time, but it was obvious that Seles -- who was four years her
junior -- would be battling her for Slam titles for years to come if not for the
attack.

Seles finished 5-10 against Graf, but had won three of their four previous Grand
Slam final matchups, including the Australian Open title just three months prior
to the stabbing. Graf was 4-1 against her nemesis after the attack, and went on
to win 11 of her 22 majors.

"She's come out of it with a lot of dignity, learned some hard lessons, but has
had a lot of grace throughout all these episodes,'' Evert told ESPN.com. "She
could have won 10 more Grand Slam events. I think she got robbed, she got
shortchanged in the tennis department, but it helped her personally. She grew up
and found herself and became a better person because of it."

If anyone had the right to issue a Nancy Kerrigan-like, "Why me?'' during her
induction ceremony it was Seles. But she never did. Instead she took the Lou
Gehrig route during her acceptance speech Saturday, never dwelling about her bad
break, while generously lobbing out thanks to those who stood by her before and
after the stabbing, such as top-10 player Mary Joe Fernandez and her
husband/agent Tony Godsick, late IMG founder and friend Mark McCormack and his
tennis-playing wife Betsy Nagelsen.

And most of all, Seles, now 35 and appearing fit on every level, looked to the
heavens to thank her father/coach Karolj, who used to draw funny faces on tennis
balls to keep the sport fun for his overachieving daughter.

As sweet as gracious as ever, Seles issued an apology to all those opponents who
whined about her grunts being intentional distractions, while giving out one
more, albeit softer grunt, "For old, good time sakes.''

Good times are what Seles deserves from here on out.