In an exclusive interview with the *Telegraph*, nine-time Grand Slam champion Monica Seles spoke about her struggles with a binge eating disorder which developed after she was famously attacked as a 19-year-old following a match at the 1993 Hamburg Open.
The Yugoslavian was forced to take a two year hiatus after the stabbing. During her break, Seles was brushed aside by many because she was not competing as a top player. Her disorder was also triggered by the sport’s culture of praising slimmer players and shaming those who do not fit the image standards.
“So much of tennis is about body image, about sponsorships and endorsements and how you look," Seles said. "When I gained a lot of weight, I realized people just looked at me kind of like, ‘How could she do that to herself?’"
Even though the injury took her out of the running for her ninth Grand Slam title, Seles was determined to heal at her own pace and make a return to the sport on her own terms, which she did successfully in 1995. Just a year later, she added a fourth Australian Open crown to her collection.
“It was one of my proudest moments because I did the work myself to figure things out because I didn’t have anybody to turn to,” Seles said. “It gave me a strength that I don’t think anyone else could take away.”
Seles' article comes at a time when Petra Kvitova is closing the chapter on the attack that left her playing hand badly damaged. In December 2016, a robber entered her home in the Czech Republic armed with a knife. On Tuesday, Radim Zondra was sentenced to eight years in prison.