"I got the lowest score of the night... Tears started flowing down" - When Monica Seles had her confidence shattered on 'Dancing with the Stars' show

Days after officially announcing her retirement from tennis in 2008, Monica Seles took an even more challenging job -- appearing as a contestant on the 'Dancing with the Stars' TV show. While the Yugoslavia-born thought it would be an exciting adventure, her experience did not turn out to be quite as joyful.

In the show, Seles was partnered with Jonathan Roberts, a veteran of the show who had previously partnered with several celebrities on the series. After much practice, the former World No. 1 and Roberts took the stage for their performance, hoping to wow the judges.

Recounting what happened in her book - GETTING A GRIP: On My Mind, My Body, My Self by Monica Seles - the nine-time Grand Slam champion stated that she felt she did well on the night and that she did not miss a single step in their routine.

Here is the clip of Monica Seles' performance on 'Dancing with the Stars':

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Unfortunately for Seles, the judges did not think so and handed her the lowest score of all contestants appearing on the show that night. Moreover, the judges also criticized her dancing skills, especially pointing out her weak posture. Reliving the experience, Monica Seles revealed that the feedback was so harsh that it wiped out all the confidence she had earned from practice in the previous weeks.

"He twirled me around the floor and I tried to keep up with his flawless fox-trot as best I could. My turns weren't as tight or controlled as they could have been, but I didn't miss a step and I didn't fall flat on my face—a success in my book. Unfortunately, not messing up wasn't a strong enough showing for the judges. I got the lowest score of the night and was told that I looked "uncomfortable" and "awkward" and that my "core wasn't strong enough,"" Monica Seles recalled.

"Thirty seconds of negative feedback wiped out the hesitant confidence I'd built up over the past several weeks of practice. Thirty seconds was all it took to shake me off kilter. After the show, all of the contestants moved through the press line, doing short interviews with the media outlets," she added.

Seles further revealed that when doing post-performance interviews later, she couldn't help but break down in tears, so much so that her partner tried to console her. Roberts' efforts, however, went in vain, as the tennis champion could not digest being criticized so openly in front of millions of fans on TV.

"To my total shock, halfway through the line, tears started flowing down my face. I finished the rest of the interviews as quickly as I could and rushed backstage to get myself together. The harder I tried not to cry, the more the tears kept coming," Monica Seles wrote.

"Jonathan immediately found me and told me there was no reason to be upset. I'd done every thing I was supposed to: our goal had been to get all our steps into the routine, so who cared that we got the lowest score? Big deal. Easy for him to say. He hadn't been torn apart for being awkward, uncoordinated, and cursed with bad posture in front of millions of households in America," she added.

"I went to my hotel that night upset and rattled" - Monica Seles

Monica Seles... - Source: Getty

Elaborating further on the ordeal in her book, Monica Seles remarked that she had truly believed she danced well that night and wondered if the criticism was only because there was a discrepancy between what she thought was good dancing and what the judges thought.

Regardless, the former World No. 1 ended up going to her hotel room upset and had to live with the fact that she had been shot down on live television for millions to see.

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"The thing was, I truly thought I'd done well. If I had thought I'd performed horribly, then I would have been fine with the criticism. But my definition of "well" and the judges' definition of it were not even close. I had never danced before, so my frame of reference was quite different. I was going to have to accept it. I went to my hotel that night upset and rattled. I took a look at my puffy eyes in the mirror and went into reality check mode," Monica Seles said.

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