- 14 Avg 2009, 12:09
#1577345
MONICA SELES TO BE INDUCTED INTO ROGERS CUP HALL OF FAME
Nine-time Grand Slam champion to play on opening night of Rogers Cup Toronto
Tennis Canada and Rogers Communications Inc. announced Thursday that nine-time Grand Slam winner and four-time Rogers Cup champion Monica Seles has been named the 2009 inductee into the Rogers Cup Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will be part of Opening Night for Rogers Cup on August 17, 2009 at Rexall Centre in Toronto. Additionally on Opening Night, Seles will play an exhibition match with other tennis greats Martina Navratilova, Serena Williams and Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak.
“Monica is a one of the tennis greats, and has a very special place in Rogers Cup history,” said Caroline Papadatos, Senior Vice-President, Customer and Corporate Marketing Services, Rogers Communications Inc. “Throughout her illustrious career she has consistently shown world-class talent, unmatched resilience and a love of the sport that has done much for tennis and the encouragement of young athletes all over the world.”
Seles’ comeback story is well documented. During a quarter-final match in Hamburg on April 30, 1993, she was stabbed in the back by a deranged fan and had to endure years of rehabilitation and training to return to the tennis circuit. Her first professional tournament back was the 1995 Rogers Cup, and it is a testament to her incredible athleticism and boundless determination that she went on to win the tournament, and capture the three following Rogers Cup titles from 1996 to 1998.
“Monica means so much to Rogers Cup and to tennis fans across Canada,” said tournament director Karl Hale. “The Rogers Cup Hall of Fame is a fitting place for such a wonderful champion.”
Seles won a total of 53 career titles on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. Her nine Grand Slam championships place her ninth on the all-time list. She was the youngest winner at the French Open when she won the event at the age of 16, having defeated then No. 1 Steffi Graf in the final.
In total, Seles held the No. 1 ranking for 178 non-consecutive weeks, fifth most in the history of the Tour. She was listed as the 13th greatest player of all time (men and women) by Tennis magazine and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame earlier this summer in Newport, Rhode Island.
In 2006, Rogers created the Rogers Cup Hall of Fame in celebration of the 125th anniversary of the tournament. Inductees include Carling Bassett-Seguso (2007), Boris Becker (2008), Bob Bédard (2006), Roy Emerson (2006), Ivan Lendl (2006), Sebastien Lareau (2007), John McEnroe (2007) and Martina Navratilova (2006).
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