But Monica is twelve years older now. And things have changed. From April 1993 to August 1995, she endured a two-and-a-half year (forced) layoff after being stabbed by a deranged Graf fan in Hamburg. The perpetrator was never convicted. And right after she recovered and the light at the end of the tunnel seemed within her grasp, her father (and coach, confidante, best friend) passed away after a prolonged bout with stomach cancer.

But the press tends to forget that. Reading transcripts of the many interviews over the past few years, I'm stunned by how many times reporters ask her, "So how close do you think you are to regaining your form from 1991 and '92?" When I ask her if she gets frustrated or angry by the comparisons, she sighs. "You know, I don't like to look back and that's why the comparisons sometimes bother me. I really believe that what's gone is gone and I don't like to look back at the past."

But day after day, match after match, Monica is forced to confront her past. But unlike Jennifer Capriati, who recently pleaded with reporters to leave the past behind, Monica remains honest despite being "tired of the same questions, the same type of questions." Her honesty, perhaps, is the most remarkable part of Monica's personality.

"My parents always valued that," she said. "Life is just so difficult as it is-- there's no reason to complicate it."

But things haven't been simple for Seles in recent years. If the fairy tale that started with a teenager winning eight out of nine Grand Slam titles in a row had a conventionally happy ending, she would be at the top of the rankings right now as the world's sentimental favorite.

Instead, she finds herself trying to keep up with a pumped-up, overpowering new generation of young superstars. I ask her whether she believed that those who suffer through adversity will eventually triumph in the end. For the first time, she pauses before she answers.

"Oh I hope so," she sighs. "But you know, life is not fair. I just believe that as long as you do your best and are kind to people, that is the best thing you can do. But life is difficult, and unfortunately, not always fair."