MONICA SELES will take part in an exhibition tour of New Zealand with
Martina Navratilova next week, a first test to see if there is hope
of a final fling on the women's tour, 22 months after she previously
struck a ball in anger.

The former world No 1 and nine-times grand-slam champion has been
bothered by an injury to her left foot since the French Open in 2003,
when she lost in the first round and retreated from view.

Should Seles be happy that the injury has healed, it may be worth
risking a return. But be prepared for an announcement that she will
not play again, almost 16 years after the Yugoslav, now an American
citizen, swept into the semifinals of the French Open as a 15-year-
old.

Back then, nobody had heard so much noise emanating from a tennis
player and the purists frowned upon it. Today, the eyebrows are
raised at the screams of Maria Sharapova, who secured a place in the
Australian Open semifinals with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Svetlana
Kuznetsova.

No woman on the circuit matches Sharapova's will to win, but what was
once a juvenile trait now risks making her unpopular in the locker-
room. Sharapova now plays Serena Williams, who beat Amélie Mauresmo,
6-2, 6-2, in a rerun of the Wimbledon final. That could be really
loud.