Monica Seles is a former Serbian-American Tennis player who used to dominate the sport during her playing career. was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 178 weeks. Seles has won nine Grand Slam titles overall and has won 53 WTA Tour-level singles titles. Monica Seles Seles became the youngest-ever French Open champion in 1990 at the age of 16.
The 51-year-old recently revealed that she had been suffering from a chronic neuromuscular disease called ‘myasthenia gravis’. She decided to finally open up about her condition ahead of the US Open 2025 to raise awareness about the chronic disease. The nine-time Grand Slam winner stated that she was completely unaware about the condition until she saw a doctor after noticing unusual symptoms of double vision and weakness in her arms.
“It took me quite some time to really absorb it”: Monica Seles
The tennis player was in disbelief about her condition at first but gradually started to accept it and move on. She publicly stated that, “It took me quite some time to really absorb it, speak openly about it, because it's a difficult one. It affects my day-to-day life quite a lot. But one thing, as I tell kids that I mentor: 'You've got to always adjust. That ball is bouncing, and you've just got to adjust.' And that's what I'm doing now."
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke calls it ‘a chronic neuromuscular disease that causes weakness in the voluntary muscles’ and "most commonly impacts young adult women who are under 40 and older men who are over 60 but it can occur at any age, including childhood. Seles stated that she has started to live her ‘new normal’ and considers her health as another chapter in her life which she needs to adapt with.
