MOLIK A CHAMPION?

Former world No. 1 Monica Seles yesterday touted Molik as a possible
champion next Saturday.

"She has the advantage of the support, and if she can rise to the
occasion, she has a big game," Seles said.


NO OFFICIAL RETIREMENT

MONICA Seles says she has had the r-question put to her many times in
the past few years, but she has no plans to officially retire just
yet.

The former world No. 1 has not played competitively since the 2003
French Open, but yesterday hinted that a comeback could be coming.


THE BEST OF THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN (according to Dick Enberg)

TOP 5 MEN

1. Rod Laver -- double Grand Slam champion.
2. Ken Rosewall -- youngest (18 years old) and oldest (37) men's
champ.
3. Andre Agassi -- winningest American, with four titles.
4. Don Budge -- first to complete the Grand Slam (in 1938).
5a. Jack Crawford -- Australia's first superstar; was in six
consecutive finals (1931-36), winning four.
5b. Roy Emerson -- won record five in a row, six total, but majority
in the '60s, when professionals such as Laver and Rosewall were
banned.

TOP 5 WOMEN
1. Margaret Court -- won a record 11 titles, including the one in
1970, which gave her the Grand Slam.
2. Monica Seles -- winningest U.S. player with four championships,
including three in a row.
3. Steffi Graf -- won four titles, including the one in 1988, part of
her Golden Slam (four majors and Olympic gold).
4. Maureen Connolly -- in 1953, the teenaged American completes the
Grand Slam, the first by a woman.
5. Evonne Goolagong -- Australian aborigine played in seven of eight
consecutive finals, winning four.

TOP 5 WOMEN'S MATCHES

1. 2002 final: Jennifer Capriati vs. Martina Hingis -- In one of the
greatest comebacks in Grand Slam history, Capriati charges back from
6-4, 4-0, survives four Hingis match points and wins her second
Australia title, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2.
2. 1984 quarterfinal: Helena Sukova vs. Martina Navratilova -- The
seemingly unbeatable Navratilova, with six consecutive Slam wins, is
denied the calendar Grand Slam as Sukova registers one of the most
stunning upsets ever, 6-2, 3-6, 9-7.
3. 1996 quarterfinal: Chanda Rubin vs. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario --
Rubin scores an upset with a dramatic 6-4, 2-6, 16-14 marathon win.
4. 1993 final: Monica Seles vs. Steffi Graf -- Seles wins her third
consecutive title, defeating Graf, who had won three times, as well,
4-6, 6-3, 6-3 (in 1996, Seles would return after her stabbing in
Germany to win her fourth championship, most by a U.S. woman).
5. 1981 final: Martina Navratilova vs. Chris Evert -- In one of the
most closely contested finals in their spirited rivalry, Navratilova
wins the first of her three Australian championships, defeating top
seed Evert, 6-7, 6-4, 7-5.