Part 1: The Could-Have-Beens
The hard-hitting Seles was a brilliant, enigmatic presence who won her first Grand Slam singles title at 16 and had eight by her 20th birthday. She eclipsed Steffi Graf for No. 1 in 1991 and ’92 and had nearly leveled their terrific head-to-head rivalry at 4-5 when a deranged fan of Graf’s stabbed Seles in the back during a match changeover in Hamburg, Germany. Seles missed two years and was never the same. Given her 3-1 record against Graf in Slam finals, Seles’ projected total of 15-16 Slams seems reasonable. So does the argument that Graf wouldn’t have gotten 22 major titles had Seles not been harmed. (Projection made by tennis analytics expert Benjamin Tom by hypothetically extending careers to match the trends displayed by other Grand Slam champions who had full careers.)