In this article, we will take a look and answer the questions about which tennis racket did Monica Seles use and why she is so famous?
Seles is a former world No. 1 and is considered one of the greatest female tennis players of all time.
She won nine Grand Slam singles titles, eight of which came when she was just a teenager!
Who is Monica Seles?
Monica Seles was born on December 2, 1973, in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia, and grew up playing tennis.
She is the daughter of Hungarian immigrants who both played professional volleyball in their native country before moving to Yugoslavia when Monica was young.
Her father Karolj coached her while she trained with his former coach Jelena Gencic, who had also coached a young Steffi Graf.
Seles became the youngest-ever French Open champion at just 16 years old and then won all five of her major titles in 1991!
She was named the WTA’s Player of the Year for three consecutive seasons from 1989 to 1992 (when she won her last major title).
She became an American citizen in 1994 and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame four years later.
Seles retired from professional tennis after winning one more Grand Slam singles title during this time, but she didn’t officially retire until 2008 when she turned 35 years old with over $20 million in career earnings.
And you can’t write about Seles without mentioning her grunting, of course.
Which Tennis Racket Did Monica Seles Use in her career?
Like all the pro tennis players in the world, Monica Seles changed many tennis rackets during her long career, so we can’t name them all-
But we can say for sure she was a very loyal player of the Japanese brand Yonex.
She was famous for using a Yonex tennis racket, name Widebody RQ-380, which she used at the 1991 US Open.
This is also the racket that she won in her 4th major title and her first US Open Women’s singles title after she beat the tennis player Martina Navratilova.
This racket is not for sale anymore, but don’t worry – you can read about the brand’s newest rackets in my best Yonex tennis rackets.
What kind of tennis racket is the Widebody RQ-380?
The Widebody RQ-380 is an oversized graphite tennis racket with synthetic strings and a graphite frame.
The frame is black while the overgrip is yellow.
It was manufactured in Japan by Yonex and has been discontinued since 1992, so you won’t find it anywhere except maybe on eBay or other second-hand websites.
What makes this tennis racket so special?
This is a graphite racket that’s more flexible than steel ones because of its size.
It offers great power due to its large head size, but it doesn’t have too much weight like other graphite racquets.
It’s also very durable because of its light materials and construction process.
The handle is made from a high-quality rubber material that won’t slip when wet or sweaty hands come into contact with it during playtime.
Overall, this is an excellent tennis racket for intermediate to advanced players who are looking for more power and control.
Which other famous tennis racket does Seles use?
Seles has used many tennis rackets in her career.
The famous Widebody RQ-380 is one of them, but she also played with other Yonex models like the SRQ Ti-800 during the early 2000s –
Which is another racket by the brand Yonex.
But don’t get it wrong: she didn’t always use Yonex rackets. When she just started, in the late 1980s, she used a Prince original graphite racket on the court.
When was Seles last match?
Seles played her last professional match in 2003, and she retired officially in the year 2008.
But that doesn’t mean she’s not playing tennis anymore!
She currently plays exhibitions and charity events with other retired pro players like Lindsay Davenport, John McEnroe, James Blake, and more.
How many Grand Slams did Seles win?
Seles won nine Grand Slam singles titles during her career.
They were all on the Women’s side of the tournament, starting with two French Open wins in 1990 and 1991; one Australian Open victory that same year; another at Wimbledon in 1992 as well as one from the US Open in 1992.
She also won four Grand Slam doubles titles including three French Opens (1990-92) and one Wimbledon 1992 –
And she also has a medal for the Olympic Games in Sydney 2000.
What happened to Seles in Hamburg in 1993?
On April 30th, 1993, Seles was stabbed by a crazed fan in Hamburg, during a quarterfinal match with the Bulgarian tennis player Magdalena Maleeva.
The man who did this was Gunter Parche and he confessed that he committed the crime because “he wanted to help German women’s tennis.”
Seles needed two surgeries but made it through with her life intact.
The stabbing caused her to miss the rest of the 1993 season and all of the 1994 season.
She made a triumphant return in 1995 but never regained her world No. 1 again, which she was on March 11, 1991.
A lot of people think that Seles was one of the best female tennis players ever-
But she lost her chance to become a legendary player after this stabbing.
This incident had a huge impact on her tennis career and personal life as well because they never found the man who did this horrible thing.
What is Seles doing now?
Seles has been retired since 2008, but she’s still playing tennis occasionally.
Today she is married to a businessman named Tom Golisano, who is 32 years her senior.
In 2019 she released her autobiography titled “Getting a Grip: On My Body, My Mind, My Self”.
She currently lives in Florida with her husband.
Are Seles still in the Tennis Hall of Fame?
Seles was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Honor in 2009, and she’s currently one of its members.
She’s also a member of Debbie’s Dream Foundation, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to stomach cancer research.
In conclusion
Monica Seles is a former professional tennis player who won nine Grand Slam singles titles.
She had many tennis rackets in her career, but the famous Widebody RQ-380 is one of them.
Seles played her last professional match in 2003 and retired officially in 2008.
Today she lives in Florida with her husband and keeps playing tennis occasionally.
To know more about which rackets other players, from today or the past, are using, click here.