TORONTO, Canada - In the city where she made her inspiring comeback
to professional tennis in 1995, Monica Seles walked out onto Centre
Court at the Rogers Cup presented by American Express in Toronto on
Monday night, taking part in a joint ceremony to honor the four-time
Canadian Open champion as well as to officially open the Rexall
Centre for the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.

The tribute to Seles featured an impressive video montage, which
highlighted her exceptional career. The Yugoslav-born American was
then presented with a No.1 hockey jersey by Canadian hockey legend
Geraldine Heaney, who won Olympic gold with the Canadian hockey team
at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. To honour her
contribution to tennis in Canada, Seles was also presented with a
unique crystal sculpture by famed artist Mark Raynes Robert.

"Monica has been a wonderful role model and ambassador for young
people around the world, both for her fighting spirit on the court
and in her grace off the court," said Raynes. "I'm thrilled and
honoured to be making this special presentation to Monica, who has
shown tremendous sportsmanship throughout her career."

Seles also officially opened the new, state-of-the-art Rexall Centre
to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour during the ceremony. The Centre made
its debut last year, hosting the Tennis Masters Canada on the ATP
circuit, and this year it hosts the women for the first time. Seles
took a walk around Centre Court and hit balls into the adoring crowd
to cap off the 20-minute ceremony.

"We thought about how we could open the Rexall Centre for the women's
tour," said Rogers Cup Tournament Director Stacey Allaster. "It was
pretty simple. We wanted to have our favourite champion come back and
take that first championship walk."

Seles also co-hosted the "Aces are Wild" fundraising gala with
Allaster on Sunday night at the Hilton Toronto with all of the Rogers
Cup stars, the aim of which was to raise funds for Canadian junior
development. Seven hundred guests gambled and bid on items such as a
half-hour tennis lesson with Seles, which raised $15,000, as well as
trips to Wimbledon and the US Open.

"The evening was an overwhelming success," said Allaster. "And it was
thanks to players like Monica and the others on the Sony Ericsson WTA
Tour."

Seles is a nine-time Grand Slam champion, winning the Australian Open
four times, the French Open three times and the US Open twice, her
most recent major coming at Melbourne in 1996. After a 27-month lay-
off from the sport after being stabbed by a deranged fan in Hamburg,
Germany, Seles made her return to professional competition in Toronto
in 1995, winning her first of four straight titles. She was also a
finalist at the Tier I event in 1999, losing to Martina Hingis, and a
semifinalist in 2001, losing to eventual champion Serena Williams.

The $45-million Rexall Centre at York University is a state-of-the-
art replacement to the outdated National Tennis Centre just across
campus. In addition to being the home of Tennis Canada, it also hosts
two of the biggest sporting events in the country, the ATP Tennis
Masters Canada and the WTA Rogers Cup. Plans for the Rexall Centre
had been in the works for 13 years and the stadium's 11,500 seats,
jumbo video screens, and 48 hospitality suites reflect the detailed
thought and care put into its construction. The grounds also serve as
the national and provincial tennis training centre year-round,
offering 16 courts (eight of which are indoors) to Canada's aspiring
young players.