Monica has accumulated some amazing statistics, even since the
stabbing. One of these is that she has beaten EVERY top player. You
have to go quite far down the rankings to find a player Monica's never
beaten:

1 Serena Williams (Monica last beat her at Manhattan Beach 2001)
2 Kim Clijsters (Hopman Cup 2002)
3 Venus Williams (Australian Open 2002)
4 Justine Henin-Hardenne (Paris Open 2002)
5 Lindsay Davenport (Home Depot Championships 2002)
6 Amelie Mauresmo (Dubai 2003)
7 Jennifer Capriati (San Diego 2001)
8 Chanda Rubin (Tokyo Toray 2003)
9 Daniela Hantuchova (French Open 2002)
10 Jelena Dokic (Bahia 2001)
11 Anastasia Myskina (never played)
12 MONICA SELES
13 Elena Dementieva (Chase Championships 2000)
14 Eleni Daniilidou (US Open 2001)
15 Magdalena Maleeva (Italian Open 2000)
16 Ai Sugiyama (Tokyo Toray 2003)
17 Amanda Coetzer (Chase Championships 2000)
18 Meghann Shaughnessy (San Diego 2001)
19 Patty Schnyder (Australian Open 2002)
20 Elena Bovina (never played)
21 Lisa Raymond (Miami 2000)
22 Vera Zvonareva (never played)
23 Anna Pistolesi (as Smashnova at Madrid 2002)
24 Nathalie Dechy (Amelia Island 2003)
25 Silvia Farina Elia (Miami 2002)
26 Alexandra Stevenson (Tokyo Toray 2002)
27 Conchita Martinez (Miami 2002)
28 Clarisa Fernandez (never played)
29 Elena Likhovtseva (Hilton Head 2000)
30 Paola Suarez (Madrid 2002)
31 Francesca Schiavone (Dubai 2003)
32 Denisa Chladkova (never played)
33 Tatiana Panova (Bahia 2001)
34 Laura Granville (never played)
35 Tamarine Tanasugarn (Stanford 2002)
36 Magui Serna (Scottsdale 2001)
37 Marie-Gaiane Mikaelian (never played)
38 Iroda Tulyaganova (Dubai 2003)
39 Virginia Ruano Pascual (Madrid 1997)
40 Katarina Srebotnik (never played)
41 Svetlana Kuznetsova (never played)
42 Mary Pierce (US Open 1997)
43 Amy Frazier (Charleston 2002)
44 Daja Bedanova

Here we come to the highest-ranked player Monica has lost to but never
beaten. Bedanova won their only meeting at the US Open 2001. Strangely
enough there's another Czech girl in that category: #72 Klara KoUKaLova!

Anyway, it's an amazing statistic that there is no one in the current
top 43 that Monica has lost to but never beaten (impressive recency,
too), given that most players have never even beaten Serena Williams!
And I can't think of any Grand-Slam champions now retired (including
Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
and Martina Hingis) that Monica has lost to but never beaten.


Another impressive statistic is that Monica is the last non-Williams
to beat a Williams at a Grand Slam since Wimbledon 2001! Jennifer
Capriati beat Serena Williams at Wimbledon 2001, Venus beat Serena in
the US Open 2001 final, Monica beat Venus at the Australian Open 2002
(which Serena didn't play), and Serena has beaten Venus in the last
four Grand-Slam finals.

If only Monica could have had her win over Martina Hingis at the US
Open 2002 in the semi-finals of the Australian Open 2002, she might
also have been the last non-Williams to win a Grand Slam!


It's Monica's comeback from the stabbing that makes her the greatest
player of all time - not only did she come back, she came back as the
best in the world. She is a huge role model, a total class-act, and a
fantastic sportswoman.

In 2003, when she's played, she's played by all standards very well.
It's just her injuries and consequent lack of tournaments that have
hurt her ranking.

Even if Monica never relives her former glories, I respect the fact
that she's still out there enjoying her tennis, and continuing to give
her fans the joy of watching her play. Monica described this stage of
her career as her "gravy years" - she doesn't have to prove anything,
it's all about love of the game now.

--
Andrew Broad
http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~broada/
http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~broada/tennis/
http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~broada/tennis/seles/