Adversaries: Monica Seles and Steffi Graf

Monica Seles (1973-present) and Steffi Graf (1969-present) held one of the most famous rivalries in tennis history. They battled for the No. 1 ranking for years, equally matched in prowess. 

This episode of Womanica is brought to you by the all-new Toyota Camry.

For further reading:

• Fifty Years of the WTA: Steffi Graf and Monica Seles give us the next great sports rivalry
• Australian Open Flashback: Seles reaches zenith with 1993 triumph over Graf
• Tennis Hall of Fame: Stefanie Graf
• Tennis Hall of Fame: Monica Seles

This month we’re talking about adversaries. These women fought against systems, governments and – sometimes each other to break barriers in their respective fields. They did unthinkable and sometimes unspeakable things to carve out their place in history.

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Luci Jones, Abbey Delk, Hannah Bottum, Lauren Willams, and Adrien Behn. Special thanks to Shira Atkins. Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello Form Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this
is Wamanica. This month, we're talking about adversaries, women who
fought for their place in history, whether they fought to
get to the top of their sport against how society
perceived them, or fought with each other to be champions.
We're talking about women who broke barriers and sometimes did
seemingly impossible or unspeakable things to carve out their place

(00:25):
in history. This episode of Walmnica is brought to you
by the all new Toyota Camry Steffy Please lay. In
late January of nineteen ninety three, a buzzing crowd of
tennis fanatics gathered in Melbourne, Australia. It was the women's
singles final for the Australian Open, and the two greatest

(00:47):
female players in the world were facing off killer fourhand
versus a two handed backhand, season champion versus an up
and coming star, Steffi Graff versus Monica Sella. Yes, watch
old footage of the match and you'll hear the ooze
and oz from spectators as the ball whizzes at top speed,

(01:07):
back and forth, back and forth. Steffi had won the
tournament three consecutive times from nineteen eighty eight to nineteen
ninety Monica had clinched the title twice nineteen ninety one
and nineteen ninety two, and when she aced the final
shot against Steffie to clinch her third Australian Open trophy,
the tennis world celebrated the height of an epic rivalry.

(01:32):
But before all the titles and celebrity, both young women
were just kids, each with an unwavering commitment to tennis. Stephie,
the older of the two, was born on June fourteenth,
nineteen sixty nine, in Mannheim, West Germany. Her father began
her career when Steffie was a toddler, teaching her how
to swing a racket in the family's living room. By

(01:55):
age five, Steffy was playing in her first tournament. She
earned a pro by the age of thirteen and quickly
rose through the world rankings. She astonished fans and opponents
alike with her wicked swing, which earned her the nickname
fraeulein forehand. She also had surprising speed and agility. Steffy

(02:15):
was ranked number one in the world by nineteen eighty seven,
at eighteen years old. Monica's rise to fame came quickly
after she was born on December second, nineteen seventy three,
in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia. Her father noticed that his young
daughter had an uncanny ability to hit a ball with
a racket against their apartment building wall. He drew pictures

(02:38):
of Tom and Jerry on her balls to keep her
interested in the activity, hoping her raw talent plus regular
practice would translate into tennis superstardom, and so they did.
By age nine, Monica was winning national tournaments. Within two years,
she was ranked the best junior player in the world.
Monica's family eventually relocated from Yugoslavia to Florida so Monica

(03:01):
could receive elite professional training. She turned pro at fifteen
years old. As an up and coming star, she became
known for her near unbeatable backhand and the unusually loud
grunt that accompanied every thwack of the ball. The two
tennis Juggernauts first came face to face at the French
Open semifinals in nineteen eighty nine. Stephie, the older and

(03:24):
more experienced player, walked away victorious. It wasn't until their
fourth matchup in nineteen ninety that Monica won her first
match over Stephie. From there, the outcome always felt uncertain
when the two players crossed paths. What made them such

(03:45):
an even matchup, Steffie said of Monica, it is her
desire and her incredible self confidence. Monica was equally complimentary
of her opponent, saying of Stephie, you cannot let your
mind go for a minute, or you've got a winner
whizzing past you. With that historic nineteen ninety three Australian
Open final, the two women had played each other ten times.

(04:06):
Steffie had won six, Monica four. Monica was also sitting
at the number one spot in the world rankings, but
just a few months later, Monica's career was forcibly pushed
off course. In April of nineteen ninety three, she was
playing a match in Hamburg, Germany. During a changeover, a
spectator in the crowd suddenly rushed towards Monica, stabbing her

(04:28):
in the upper back with a serrated knife. Authorities later
discovered the man was an obsessive Steffie Graft fan who
claimed to have attacked Monica so Steffie could win more games.
Stepfie visited Monica in the hospital two days after the
attack and told her, I'm sorry this happened in my country.
Stay strong, you can get through this, Monica. Though the

(04:52):
injury itself wasn't career ending, Monica took more than two
years away from tennis while she recovered mentally and physically
from the assault. She said, I was doing something that
I love. I never ever expected something like this to happen,
and whenever I think about it, it's just very hard.
In the meantime, Steffie continued to win Slam titles, regaining

(05:14):
the top ranking before the end of nineteen ninety three.
Monica returned to tennis in nineteen ninety five. She won
her last major title the next year at the Australian Open.
Her final match against Steffi was in the semifinals of
the French Open in nineteen ninety nine. Stephi won that
last face off and retired a few months later. Monica

(05:36):
continued playing for several more years, though her game was
never as dominant post injury. She played in her last
official match in two thousand and three and announced her
retirement in two thousand and eight. As Monica and Stephfie
faded from the headlines, a new generation of record breaking
players entered the game, with Venus and Serena Williams leading

(05:57):
the packing. Back on their careers, we see two incredibly
successful players who defined their own generation of women's tennis. Collectively,
Steffi and Monica held the number one title for five
hundred and fifty five weeks and one one hundred and
sixty singles titles, including thirty one Grand slams. All month,

(06:18):
We're talking about Adversaries. For more information, find us on
Facebook and Instagram at Wamanica Podcast Special thanks to Liz Kaplan,
my favorite sister and co creator. Talk to you on Monday,