Monica Seles' reign as No. 1 in women's tennis is about to end, achieving the aim of the man who stabbed her in the back.
Seles, who became the youngest top-ranked tennis player in history in 1990, officially withdrew from the French Open and Wimbledon on Tuesday and opened the way for her assailant's favorite, Steffi Graf, to regain No. 1, as he had hoped.This might have been a Grand Slam summer for Seles, a season of triumphs building on her brilliant successes a year ago and her win at the first big championship this year in Australia.
Instead, with the French and Wimbledon wiped out by the courtside attack in Germany, she surely will lose her No. 1 ranking after one of those major championships ends - at least until she recovers.
While Graf, now top-seeded in Paris, and another potential No. 1, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, play at Roland Garros starting next Monday and at Wimbledon starting June 21, Seles will continue to recuperate at a sports medicine clinic in Vail, Colo.
"The withdrawals were not unexpected," WTA executive director Gerard Smith said. "I guess we all had hoped that there was an outside chance she might return in time for Wimbledon."
"Monica will lose the No. 1 spot unless there are early-round losses by both Steffi and Arantxa (Sanchez Vicario) in both the French and Wimbledon," Smith said.
Dr. Richard Steadman, who is treating Seles for the inch-wide, half-inch deep wound between her left shoulder blade and her spine, said after her arrival in Vail two weeks ago that at least two muscles were cut. Those muscles, he said, affect her left-handed serves and overheads, as well as her two-handed groundstrokes.
"The worst would be that she couldn't come back, but I think that's extremely unlikely," Steadman said. "She has shown a lot of progress the last few days. I would think that I'd look for the end of the summer."
Few in women's tennis expect Seles to be out a moment longer than her wound requires to heal.
"Monica is an extraordinary competitor," Smith said. "And if anyone can go out on the court and block this out, once she overcomes the physical aspects of, certainly you'd bet on her. I'm betting on her to come back strong."