London, Apr 13 : Former World No. 1 tennis star Monica Seles has said that food became her best friend to overcome loneliness after her father's death in 1998.

Seles spoke for the first time about her nine-year battle with an eating disorder, The Sun reported.

Seles, 35, said she started binge eating after being knifed in the shoulder by a Steffi Graf fan during a 1993 match and turned to food to cope with her father's death in 1998.

Yugoslavia-born Seles said: "Food became my best friend. I was lonely and I would just eat. It was my coping mechanism. Food was how I dealt with stress."

Her weight battles weren't helped as she compared herself to slim Russian Anna Kournikova.

But she realised she was cured after starring on the US version of Strictly Come Dancing last year.

Seles said being criticised by the judges' upset her, but this time she didn't gorge on food.

"I cried, but I did not go back to my old habits," Seles said

Seles also wrote a book "Getting a Grip" to help women beat food addiction. (ANI)