Monica Seles retires

The youngest winner of the French Open in 1990, she first became world number one in March 1991 and held the top ranking for 178 weeks over the next two years.Tragedy struck Seles in April 1993, when she was stabbed in the back by a spectator during a match in Hamburg, Germany. She was not able to play again for more than two years.When she did return, she completed a stirring comeback win at the Canadian Open, then reached the US Open final the following month.Remarkably, she then won her ninth Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January 1996."Tennis has been and will always be a huge part of my life," said Seles in a statement."I have for some time considered a return to professional play, but I have now decided not to pursue that."In the spring of 2003, Seles sustained a foot injury that sidelined her from the WTA tour.In February 2005, she lost two exhibition matches in New Zealand against Martina Navratilova.In December, Seles said that Lindsay Davenport's successful return to the tour after pregnancy inspired her to consider her own limited comeback to play Grand Slam tournaments and the major warm-up events for those tournaments."I will continue to play exhibitions, participate in charity events, promote the sport, but willno longer plan my schedule around the tour," Seles said."I look forward to pursuing other opportunities with the same passion and energy that fueled my dedication to tennis and to devote more time to two of my passions - children and animals."I especially want to thank all my wonderful, loyal fans for all of their support for me over the years."They have inspired me throughout y career in the good times and comforted me in the bad times.