"If she said that, I won't say anything either" - When Graf and Seles refused to break the confidentiality of their on-court conversation

In the late 1980s, Germany's Steffi Graf came face-to-face with a stiff challenge in the form of Monica Seles. The Yugoslavian-American Seles turned pro at just 15 and soon after took the tennis world by storm, winning eight Grand Slam titles by the age of 20.

Seles posed a threat to all the top players of the time, like Graf, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, and achieved the No. 1 ranking at the age of 16. But on April 30, 1993, when Seles was sitting in her chair during a match in Germany, one of Graf's fans - Gunter Parche - jumped on the court and stabbed her in the back. The fan's motive was to help Graf regain the World No. 1 ranking.

Emotionally and physically destroyed by the incident, Seles stayed away from the court for nearly three years. She returned in late 1995 and faced Graf in the final of the US Open, where the latter won 7-6(6), 0-6, 6-3.

The two players exchanged pleasantries at the net and during the trophy presentation ceremony. But when Seles was asked later in her press conference about her chat with Graf, she hesitated, before stating that she needed Graf's permission to reveal anything.

"I don't know. First, I want to ask Steffi if that is okay to tell you guys because I feel bad," Seles said. "I have this confidentiality thing maybe too much going. Steffi said very nice things. I said back to her. Steffi is a very private person."

"We didn't talk about anything big. Really about New York and how she loves spending time here and how I loved it also here and how both of us played a great match. She said she played great and I played great and I said the same thing - that type of conversation," she added.

Journalists once again tried their luck as they asked Graf the same question, while also telling her Seles' answer. The 22-time Grand Slam champion responded:

"Oh, no. If she said that, then I won't say anything either. It was a nice conversation, that is all, no."

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Steffi Graf and Monica Seles inspired me to play tennis: Kim Clijsters

Steffi Graf (L) and Kim Clijsters

On the occasion of International Women's Day on March 8 this year, former World No. 1 Kim Clijsters named Steffi Graf and Monica Seles as her role models and the players who inspired her to take up tennis.

"The women who inspired me to play tennis and to keep going and who I looked up to and wanted to be like and move like and have the same footwork like were Steffi Graf and Monica Seles. For her grit and her fighting spirit. Those were the two women that I admired growing up," Clijsters said.

Clijsters won six Grand Slam titles — four in singles and two in the doubles category. Graf, meanwhile, retired with 22 singles Grand Slams to her name, while Seles had won nine singles Majors by the time of her retirement.