Monica Seles has won fame, fortune and titles this year. Her latest victory brought her respect.
"She is clearly No. 1 for this year," Martina Navratilova said of the 17-year-old from Yugoslavia. "Whether she can repeat next year, that remains to be seen. But in the major tournaments, she was four for four."The first three were the Australian, French and U.S. Opens, all of which turned into triumphs for Seles. She skipped Wimbledon, saying she had shin splints.
On Sunday, Seles added the Virginia Slims Championships, a season-ending tournament for the top 16 players in the world, to her rapidly growing trophy case by defeating Navratilova 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 6-0.
"It was a great match," Seles said. "Even 'til the last point, I was telling myself, `You got to keep going because Martina came back a lot of times . . . ."'
It was the second straight year Seles has won the Virginia Slims Championships. This year's victory stymied Navratilova's bid for a record 158th career tournament title.
"I played the best tennis that I was capable of today and it wasn't good enough," Navratilova said. "She played better."
Seles received $800,000 for winning the tournament, boosting her earnings this year to $2,457,758, breaking the single-season record of $2,173,556 set by Navratilova in 1984.
In addition to the winning check of $250,000, Seles got a $500,000 bonus for finishing first in the year-long Virginia Slims bonus pool and $50,000 from an incentive pool.
Navratilova, who earned $120,000 for finishing second, also collected $100,000 for finishing fourth in the bonus pool and $8,000 from the incentive pool. Add that to the $45,000 she earned by teaming with Pam Shriver to win the doubles title on Saturday, and Navratilova's 1991 earnings total $989,986.