Influencing the next generation is an enormous position of prestige. Nine-time major champion Monica Seles has embraced the role, and then some.
“Being a role model is always a great honor a great privilege,” Seles told Nina Pantic in Miami. “It carries a lot of weight because I had my own role models, like Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert.”
Seles was a special guest at the Citi Taste of Tennis event in Miami, with fellow Hall of Famer Lindsay Davenport leading the guest list at the Taste of Tennis event two weeks earlier in Indian Wells. This month marks Women’s History Month, making it even more fitting that the two Hall of Famers made impactful appearances in the tennis world.
“I think it's so important for all of us to give back to the sport,” Seles said. “As a young girl growing up in my former country of Yugoslavia, I never imagined playing a sport that I love to play with my dad would give me all these opportunities.
“I've always tried to stay mindful of that and just to let the younger generation know there's so much joy in playing the sport.”