Tennis Legend Monica Seles has revealed that she is living with myasthenia gravis (MG), a rare chronic neuromuscular disease, having been diagnosed three years ago.
The 51-year-old Serbian-American opened up about her condition, which affects approximately 1 in 5,000 people, when speaking to the Associated Press, in the hope that it will raise awareness of the rare disease.
“I would be playing [tennis] with some kids or family members, and I would miss a ball. I was like, ‘Yeah, I see two balls.’ These are obviously symptoms that you can’t ignore. It took me quite some time to really absorb it, speak openly about it, because it’s a difficult one. It affects my day-to-day life quite a lot.”
The disease, which causes the immune system to attack the voluntary muscles in the body, is not commonly known, and Seles hopes her speaking out can help others to find the help they need.
“When I got diagnosed, I was like, ‘What?!’ So this is where, and I can’t emphasize enough, I wish I had somebody like me speak up about it.”
Seles, who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2009, had a remarkable career that saw her claim eight major singles titles by the age of 19.
She looked on course to add to that total before being stabbed in the back on court in Hamburg in 1993, which forced her to take time out to recover. She managed to win one more major title, the 1996 Australian Open, but never reached the heights of her prodigious beginning.
Seles will be partnering with argenx, who are an immunology company headquartered in the Netherlands, to promote their Go for Greater campaign.
