Monica Seles Quotations

Tennis has to become everything to you if you're going to make it to the top. You have to live it.

That's the key to success, isn't it? It has to be fun.

I lost my dad way too early and it was agonisingly awful. I missed him so much and I hated knowing that I could never again pick up the phone to tell him about my day.

You will never have great tennis champions from England because of the cold and dark, but most of all because people only care about the sport for two weeks a year, and then they're on to something else. There's just not a great love of the sport there

Everybody has their story - at some point you have to say, 'This is who I am: Now it's up to me to become what I want to be.'

Did you know that Christmas Day is absolutely the best day to fly? It is. No crowded airports and crowded planes. I always flew to Australia. That's what Christmas was for me - a plane journey to the next tournament

Life is not worth living if I cannot have pasta or bread again.

I have this terrible dark side to my personality, which playing tennis keeps at bay

What I put in the stock market, I don't have to touch in my lifetime. I want to live off my bonds. I want to be that safe.

People think I must have been so talented at an early age, but I don't know - was it talent or hard work? Who knows?

I am lucky to have advisers whom I trust.

I would like to thank all my tennis fans who were there from Day One when I was No. 1, through my stabbing, and my comeback.

If I find the person that I love, it is because I love them, not because I will be dependent on them.

I did realise more than ever, after the stabbing, that tennis is a business - a tough business.

I never really did Christmas before. Christmas Day? I mean - what's that? What's it all about? I was always flying on Christmas Day

It doesn't matter who is playing or how old they are. I just worry about what I can control. It doesn't give me more or less motivation.

Madonna has total control over her life, and not many women have that

You have to want to play it all day, every day to get to the top.

If you look at tennis, the girls have become much more attractive; they wear makeup. In my generation, you were a tennis player. It wasn't like you had to look a certain way.

Since I retired, I very much enjoy watching Serena Williams play. While I was playing, she was one of the toughest players I ever faced. Her ground strokes are so solid, her serve is one of the most powerful in women's tennis, and mentally she is just so strong.

Tennis is pretty unforgiving if you are carrying weight. You are expected to wear short skirts, and you are compared to all these 16 and 17-year-olds.

For me, the biggest thing with money has always been independence - just the biggest.

As a top player, you have to keep your emotions in check. You think you can control everything.

I love new restaurants; I love trying out new foods.

I think for me, food was a way for me to deal with emotional trouble.

What Mary has achieved is nothing short of amazing. If she can come back from all her injuries and do so well, then I think why can't I?

Women athletes have the ability to serve as role models for women and girls throughout the world. I am excited to attend the World Economic Forum to explore ways in which the global community can continue to support athletes? ability to help create positive social change.

You're out there for two-and-a-half hours, it's six-all in the tiebreaker, a couple of points will decide who's in the finals, and then you have the plane flying over. And it's like 'Oh, get me out of here' for a second.

It's fantastically exciting. She's so young still and she was so good. I'm a big fan of hers. She was a great No. 1 player. She was a chess player out there.

I did realize more than ever, after the stabbing, that tennis is a business - a tough business.

Tennis is so competitive. I guess that's the way it has to be.

I don't like salads: I like the strong food.

What I put in the stock market, I dont have to touch in my lifetime. I want to live off my bonds. I want to be that safe.

As you know, I was one of the original grunters. But Jimmy Connors used to grunt way before I was born. I never knew I was grunting, it was just part of my strokes.

I never knew I was grunting, it was just part of my strokes.

I'm 5 feet 10 inches, and whatever my whatever my weight is, that's fine. As long as I am able to move and I feel good, it doesn't matter.

It doesnt matter who is playing or how old they are. I just worry about what I can control. It doesnt give me more or less motivation.

I'm about the present.

I don't believe in playing hurt, in taking injections to cover the pain.

I decided that I want to live the rest of my life happy with what I'm doing. So when I play tennis again, I have to play it for the right reason. I don't want to play to get my No. 1 ranking back. I don't want to play for the attention, or to earn more. I don't even want to play because the world wants to see me do it, even though it's nice to know that the world is interested. I only want to play because I love the game, which is the reason I began to play at age seven in the first place.

I have to live for the day, and not worry about or try to know what tomorrow brings.... if I've learned one thing from all that'shappened to me, it's that if you would know what tomorrow brings, you may not want to live it.

It's a drag having to wear socks during matches, because the tan, like, stops at the ankles. I can never get my skin, like, color coordinated.

I used to pretend that I was Tom attacking Jerry, who was drawn on the ball