{"id":63440,"date":"2025-08-12T21:00:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T21:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/63440\/"},"modified":"2025-08-12T21:00:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T21:00:09","slug":"tennis-legend-monica-seles-announces-difficult-myasthenia-gravis-diagnosis-after-three-year-secret","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/63440\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennis legend Monica Seles announces \u2018difficult\u2019 myasthenia gravis diagnosis after three-year secret"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former tennis<\/a> superstar Monica Seles has discussed for the first time her diagnosis of her autoimmune disease \u2014 myasthenia gravis.<\/p>\n

The nine-time grand slam winner and former world No.1 first noticed the symptoms of the neuromuscular disease while she was swinging a racquet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would be playing with some kids or family members, and I would miss a ball. I was like, \u2018Yeah, I see two balls\u2019. These are obviously symptoms that you can\u2019t ignore,\u201d Seles said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAnd, for me, this is when this journey started. And it took me quite some time to really absorb it, speak openly about it, because it\u2019s a difficult one. It affects my day-to-day life quite a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 51-year-old Seles, who won her first major trophy at age 16 at the 1990 French Open and played her last match in 2003, said she was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis three years ago and is speaking publicly about it for the first time ahead of the US Open, which starts on August 24, to raise awareness about what is known as MG.<\/p>\n

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke calls it \u201ca chronic neuromuscular disease that causes weakness in the voluntary muscles\u201d and \u201cmost commonly impacts young adult women (under 40) and older men (over 60) but … can occur at any age, including childhood\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"HallHall of Famer Monica Seles has spoken of her fight against a neuromuscular autoimmune disease. (AP PHOTO) Credit: AAP<\/p>\n

The Tennis Hall of Famer said she\u2019d never heard of the condition until seeing a doctor and being referred to a neurologist after noticing symptoms such as double vision and weakness in her arms.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust blowing my hair out … became very difficult,\u201d she said \u2014 and legs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got diagnosed, I was like \u2018what?!\u2019\u201d said Seles, who is partnering with argenx, an immunology company headquartered in the Netherlands, to promote their Go for Greater campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo this is where \u2014 I can\u2019t emphasise enough \u2014 I wish I had somebody like me speak up about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been three decades since Seles returned to competition at the 1995 US Open, making it to the final, more than two years after she was attacked by a man with a knife at a tournament in Hamburg, Germany.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way they welcomed me … after my stabbing, I will never forget,\u201d Seles said about the fans in New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are the moments that stay with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

She talks about learning to live a \u201cnew normal\u201d nowadays and characterised her health as another in a series of life steps that required adapting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to, in tennis terms, I guess, reset \u2014 hard reset \u2014 a few times. I call my first hard reset when I came to the US as a young 13-year-old (from Yugoslavia). Didn\u2019t speak the language; left my family. It\u2019s a very tough time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, obviously, becoming a great player, it\u2019s a reset, too, because the fame, money, the attention, changes (everything), and it\u2019s hard as a 16-year-old to deal with all that. Then obviously my stabbing \u2014 I had to do a huge reset.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then, really, being diagnosed with myasthenia gravis: another reset. But one thing, as I tell kids that I mentor: \u2018You\u2019ve got to always adjust. That ball is bouncing, and you\u2019ve just got to adjust\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s what I\u2019m doing now.\u201d<\/p>\n

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