Monica Seles has always been a media darling and now she is joining forces with the other side, dropping one big announcement after another.
Just one day prior to announcing her official retirement from professional tennis (she played her last Tour match in 2002), Seles made an appearance on CBS’ “The Early Show,” speaking as the network’s newest correspondent.
The 34-year-old former World No. 1 will be a contributor to the morning news program in areas relating to women’s health, focusing on body image issues and coping mechanisms.
“I had a lot of inside emotional traumas going on,” she told co-anchor Harry Smith. “You could see that reflected in the body that I had,” she said referring to extra pounds she carried, a result of the personal problems she faced while playing competitively.
Showing off a new trim physique, it was almost difficult to recall the years following her untimely and traumatic stabbing by a crazed fan at a tournament in Hamburg and the passing of her father to stomach cancer years later.
Now Seles wants to be a role model for young women by sharing her story and insights with television viewers in her new position, particularly on issues related to physical fitness and maintaining a healthy weight—a popular issue in today’s diet-obsessed society—by getting active in sports.
“I mean, in my case it was tennis, but if it's soccer or basketball -- just go out there and get fresh air in your lungs, because kids are really sedentary right now, and if you start like that at age 6 or 10, what's gonna happen as you get older? ... I had my periods where I was overweight, and I can really relate to both ends of it.”
The following day, Seles’ agent, Tony Godsick, announced that she was hanging up her racquet for good, a surprise considering that as late as December of last year, she was contemplating a comeback, in part due to Lindsay Davenport’s successful string of victories.
“I certainly would not ever be able to do a full schedule again, because of the foot, but I’m thinking about the Slams and about some of the better tournaments that lead into them,” she told the Los Angeles Times’ Bill Dwyre, hinting that Miami might be her first tournament back.
But Seles has decided to forego tennis and dance to her own tune, literally.
While she won’t be competing on the court, she will keep her competitive juices flowing on the dance floor, as part of the sixth season of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.” Joining Seles will be actors Marlee Matlin, Shannon Elizabeth, Priscilla Presley, Cristian De La Fuente, Marissa Jaret Winokur and Steve Guttenberg; R&B singer Mario, magician Penn Jillette and radio host Adam Carolla; and fellow athletes, current Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor and figure skater, Kristi Yamaguchi.
The dancing competition will kick off with a live airing on March 17, ironically one week before the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.
Seles is the winner of 53 singles titles, including nine Grand Slams and an Olympic bronze medal. She was forced off the Tour in 2002, with a nagging foot injury.