SARASOTA, FL, USA – It was December 2, 1973, a Sunday, when one of the all-time greats in women’s tennis came into this world. Monica Seles won nine Grand Slam titles – including seven of eight at one point – and reached World No.1, spending 178 weeks there, the sixth-most all-time.

But she was so much more than just her historic results. She was a pioneer of the power game – the first player to hit with full power off both sides, which has become the strategy of choice today. She broke through at such a young age – youngest French Open champion, youngest No.1 (at the time) and youngest WTA Finals champion. And perhaps most inspirational of all, her 1995 comeback didn’t just captivate the tennis world, it captivated the world – and it was a winning comeback, no less.

So we at wtatennis.com would like to wish the fabulous Monica Seles a happy, happy birthday!

And here are pics of her nine biggest titles – those nine Grand Slams – courtesy of Getty Images:

1990 French Open
Seles won her first Grand Slam title at the 1990 French Open, beating Steffi Graf, who was No.1 at the time, in the final. At 16 years and 6 months, she was the youngest champion in French Open history.

1991 Australian Open
Playing in Melbourne for the first time, Seles went all the way to the Australian Open title in 1991, saving a match point to beat Mary Joe Fernandez in the semis then beating Jana Novotna in the final.

1991 French Open
Seles, now No.1 in the world herself, hit through three straight clay court gurus – Conchita Martínez, Gabriela Sabatini and Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario – to successfully defend the French Open in 1991.

1991 US Open
Having missed Wimbledon, Seles kept her Grand Slam winning streak going at the US Open in 1991, edging Jennifer Capriati in a legendary semifinal clash and then beating Martina Navratilova in the final.

1992 Australian Open
Seles put together another dynamite Grand Slam season in 1992, winning three of the four majors – beginning with the Australian Open, where she beat Fernandez in the final, in straight sets this time.

1992 French Open
Seles edged Graf in an absolute classic of a final, 6-2, 3-6, 10-8, to win her third consecutive French Open title. Ana Ivanovic has said that match was one of her inspirations to pick up a racquet.

1992 US Open
After seeing her Grand Slam win streak snapped at 41 matches in a row by Graf in the Wimbledon final, Seles got right back on the horse with another US Open title, beating Sánchez-Vicario in the final.

1993 Australian Open
And she won her third straight Aussie Open in 1993, beating Graf in the final – her third title in three career Australian Opens. At that point she had won 55 of her last 56 Grand Slam matches.

1996 Australian Open
Seles won her ninth and last major at the 1996 Australian Open, winning a semifinal thriller against fellow American Chanda Rubin and then beating first-time Grand Slam finalist Anke Huber for the title.