Since you can only play those in front of you, and Steffi did this very well, I believe that Steffi suffers from the perception that Monica Seles was starting to dominate her until the stabbing attack, which was carried out by a crazed Steffi fan, set her right back. Perhaps her lack of doubles success means the likes of Court, Serena, and Martina are seen in a different light.
The most likely explanation for this is one name: Monica Seles, the number one women’s player from 1991 to April 30, 1993. On that day, 19-year-old Monica was stabbed in the back by an enamored fan of rival 23-year-old Steffi Graf while she was sitting down in between games in Hamburg. Prior to the stabbing, the 17- to 19-year-old Seles had already won eight major titles and had defeated Graf in three of the four major finals.
After the stabbing, Seles only won 1 other major, while Graf won 11 more. Without the stabbing, 6 to 8 of Graf additional 11 major titles would probably have gone to Seles. Seles’ tennis career was successfully derailed by that devoted admirer.
