"Don't know how many from my generation wore heels during Grand Slams" - When Monica Seles spoke about tennis' transformation
Monica Seles represents a generation of women's tennis that found itself in the midst of a transition. Players from that time learnt to slowly ditch the traditional aspects of the sport in favor of the modern.
Seles, alongside her long-time rival Steffi Graf, led the sport into the new era that we are familiar with now. And Seles is fully aware of the multitude of changes that have come about in tennis over the years.
While speaking to media a few years ago, on the sidelines of the 2018 WTA Finals, Seles stated that one of the biggest changes was that players now led more balanced lives. Noting that players from her generation never had the opportunity to go out for casual outings or "wear heels," she expressed hope that the new set-up would help stars stay in the game for longer.
"I don't know in our generation how many of us wore heels during the two-week Grand Slam tournament (smiling)," Seles said. "So little things like that which hopefully will keep the current stars in the game longer because they have that balance."
Elaborating further, Seles said players from her generation were too focussed on winning every match and that they took losses much harder. She noted that with new sponsors coming in, players are better supported in the modern era.
"I think our generation, if you lost a match, you took it much harder? Now it's a little bit easier, I think, the losses. The expectations are you don't have to enter every tournament that you enter to win," Monica Seles said. "I think they seem to have a better balance in general in life with tennis and media sponsors than I think we did. For us there was a lot more one-dimensional, much more towards tennis-tennis."
"When I came on the tour, top players were much more reserved" - Monica Seles
In the same media interaction, Seles also commented on the behavioral changes in players over the years. The former World No. 1 said that, in her era, top players were more reserved — so much so that it became a trait of being among the best.
"I would have to say I think the top players, when I came on the tour, were much more reserved, so I figured they're the top players," Monica Seles had noted. "Had they know best, so I'm going to follow that example and I kind of followed that. I was always an introvert, so I kind of stayed within my team."
Seles went on to say that players today interact with each other a lot more than back when she was still active.
"Just what I see now, I don't know if it's superficial or real, I don't know, but at least there is more interaction between the top players," she added.