"We'd be talking about Seles with the most Slams ahead of Court or Graf" - When Navratilova claimed Seles stabbing changed tennis history

Martina Navratilova once claimed that Monica Seles would have had the record for the highest number of Grand Slams if not for her stabbing.

Seles burst on to the scene in the late 1980s, winning a whopping eight Grand Slam singles titles by the age of 19. However, her career was derailed in 1993 when Gunter Parche, a fan of Steffi Graf's, stabbed her in the shoulder.

While Seles would return to action a couple of years later, she was far from the player she once was. Her most notable achievement post her comeback was winning the 1996 Australian Open.

Navratilova told ESPN in 2013 that Seles matched Chris Evert when it came to mental toughness but the stabbing incident caused her to lose that "supreme confidence."

"Mentally she was just so tough, she was right up there with Chris [Evert]. You couldn't crack her, you never got the feeling she was panicked or pissed off. Nothing. You could not read her body language. Up 6-4, 4-0 or down 6-4, 4-0, she was immaculate, and she lost a little bit of that, not hardness, but supreme confidence. She lost her edge," Navratilova said.

Navratilova further opined that Seles would have ended up with more Grand Slams than Margaret Court (24) and Steffi Graf (22). She also stated that Gunter Parche "changed the course of tennis history."

"She would have won so much more. We'd be talking about Monica with the most Grand Slam titles (ahead of) a Margaret Court or Steffi Graf. Steffi had 22, but she didn't have anyone to play against. This guy changed the course of tennis history, no doubt about that," Navratilova said.

Monica Seles and Martina Navratilova faced off on 17 occasions

Monica Seles and Martina Navratilova are 17 years apart in age, but that didn't stop them from forging a fierce rivalry. The duo locked horns on 17 occasions, with Seles leading 10-7 in the head-to-head.

Navratilova won their first three meetings, before the then-Yugoslav beat her in the final of the 1990 Italian Open. They squared off in only one Grand Slam final, the 1991 US Open, with Seles winning 7-6(1), 6-1.

The last-ever meeting between Martina Navratilova and Monica Seles came in the final of the 1993 Open Gaz de France, where Navratilova triumphed 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(3).