What really made me admire Monica Seles most of all was not just what she did on the court. In the 1992 book Hard Courts by John Feinstein, in the chapter “Ted” about Ted Tinling, Feinstein wrote about Tinling’s adoration of Seles, who he compared to his beloved muse Suzanne Lenglen. “We’ve had the awkwardness of Court, the bitchiness of Billie Jean, the brown sugar of Chrissie, the butchness of Martina, and the manic shyness of Graf. Now we shall have Seles and she will be wonderful. Completely wonderful.”
Ted foresaw that Seles would win her first Grand Slam as a teen and then passed away before she fulfilled his prophecy. At Wimbledon, there was a memorial for Ted which only a few players showed up for, Evert, Shriver, Wade, Rinaldi, Hetherington (no King, Capriati, Martina) and then, Feinstein wrote in his book, annoyed by how so few players came to pay respects, “…as I was about to sit down, I looked up and there was Monica Seles. Two weeks after she had fulfilled Ted’s prediction by beating Graf in the French Open final, she had fought her way through the tabloid press that was congregated outside and made it into the church. As much as any of them – perhaps more – she could have found an excuse not to come. But she was there. I looked up to wherever you look in those situations and I said, ‘Ted, you always knew how to pick ’em.’ And then I cried.”
Hard Courts · John Feinstein · Monica Seles · Suzanne Lenglen
