Keeping with the tradition that several current and former pro
athletes are part of the show, Monica Seles' name has been thrown into
the ring.

Seles was once the number one tennis player in the world. She was the
youngest winner of the French Open, at the age of 16. At the height of
her career, she was attacked on the court by a spectator. She has had
some success since but has never managed to capture the success that
she once had.

Monica Seles will return for an interview with Dave Kozlowskiâ€"this
time it is on Inside Tennis With the Koz on Tennis Channel this week.

They worked together for over a decade in Sarasota, FL. Monica Seles
was the “Touring Professional” of Laurel Oak Country Club. Dave "KOZ"
Kozlowski was the director of Tennis for the development.

The 9 Slam title-holder helped Koz launch his tennis broadcast career
by being his first guest on a local Comcast cable network.

“Just weeks after her return to the tour following a 26-month
competitive tennis hiatus from the back-stabbing, Seles had over 4,000
interview requests. Monica granted two â€" the other Dave (Letterman
that is) and mine. She came on to do a 30-minute live broadcast. What
a way to get a rookie-broadcaster started! As the tennis world knows,
Monica has always been one of the most genuinely gracious professional
athletes in the sporting arena. Her love of life and tennis is
non-paralleled. Getting to know Monica has been a major enjoyment in
life for me,” explained The Koz.

Monica will again be appearing with Kozlowski on air. Tennis Channel’s
“Inside Tennis With The Koz” host will be taking his viewers to the
historic Berkeley Tennis Club in Berkeley, CA for the Alta Bates
Summit Tennis Classic where Seles and former WTA number one-ranked
doubles player Corina Morariu recently headed up the Northern
California fund-raiser.

Also rounding out the award winning 30-minute magazine style talk show
will be a visit to the USPTA Professional Tennis Management program
conducted at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, MI headed up by
USPTA first vice-president Tom Daglis.

The show will premiere on Tuesday December 18 @ 8 AM eastern. For
additional airing dates and times visit www.insidetenniswiththekoz.com.

Monica Seles has revealed she is considering a comeback to the WTA
Tour after watching Lindsay Davenport make a successful return since
giving birth to a son in June.

  Seles has not played since the French Open in 2003 when she was
struggling with back and foot injuries. But the 34-year-old, who still
plays regularly with former world number ones Jennifer Carpriati and
Martina Navratilova,has never formally retired and is now eyeing a
possible return to action in Miami next March.

"I still love to play. That has never lessened," Seles told the LA
Times. "What Lindsay did was just so cool.

"And what I know now, I wish I had known then. Like stretching more
before and after matches. You go out and win 6-3 6-1 and say that was
easy and you wouldn't stretch.

Seles, who was ranked as world number one in 1991 and 1992, won her
first major at Roland Garros in 1990 before going on to win seven of
the next 11 Slams, despite not competing at Wimbledon in 1991.

But shortly after winning her third Australian Open title in 1993,
Seles was stabbed in the back by Guenter Parche, a spectator who came
down from the stands during her quarter final clash with Magdalena
Maleeva in Hamburg. Seles did not play again until August 1995 and won
only one more Grand Slam, in Australia in 1996.

"I guess I kind of had two tennis careers," Seles continued. "And now
perhaps a third. I certainly would not ever be able to do a full
schedule again, because of the foot.

"But I'm thinking about the Slams and about some of the better
tournaments that lead into them. I won't decide for sure until the
beginning of the year and the Australian is certainly not possible.
But Miami. Maybe."

With Martina Hingis out the door, could the much classier Monica Seles
make a comeback? It appears so.

The 34-year-old, beset by foot and back injuries that unofficially
pushed her into retirement four years ago, said she might compete at
next spring's Sony Ericsson Open in Miami and the three majors thereafter.

"I certainly would not ever be able to do a full schedule again,
because of the foot," Seles told the Los Angeles Times. "But I'm
thinking about the slams and about some of the better tournaments that
lead into them."

Seles, with a style -- using both hands on forehands and backhands and
taking the ball early -- that hadn't been seen before, was the most
dominant performer on the women's tour in her peak. At one stretch,
she won seven of eight Grand Slam tourneys she contested from 1991-93.

Of course, her career was never the same after she was stabbed in the
back by a deranged fan during a match in Germany in April 1993. A
two-year sabbatical, mostly having to do with the mental trauma of the
incident, followed.

"I guess I kind of had two tennis careers," said Seles, a longtime
Florida resident. "I still love to play. That has never lessened."

Nine-time Grand Slam winner Monica Seles and former French Open
doubles champions Luke and Murphy Jensen will host the inaugural Bank
of the West Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic Saturday at Riviera Tennis Club.

Three-time Grand Slam champion and Olympic gold medalist Jennifer
Capriati, former UCLA star Justin Gimelstob, former WTA Tour player
Carling Bassett-Seguso and former ATP doubles star Robert Seguso,
actors David Duchovny, Eric Braeden and Scott Foley, actress Donna
Mills and musician Gavin Rossdale are among the other tennis and
entertainment stars expected to participate in the event.

"I am excited to have the opportunity to participate in the Bank of
the West Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic along with Luke and Murphy,"
said Seles, who was ranked No. 1 in the world in 1991-92.

The fun-filled day of tennis and an 'Evening with the Stars' gala will
raise money for a number of Jensen designated youth-oriented
charities, including Jensen-Schmidt Tennis Academy for Down Syndrome,
the National Down Syndrome Society and The Riviera Foundation.

The event gets underway with a tennis pro-am from 9-11:30 a.m.,
followed by a kids' clinic from 12-1:30 p.m. A pro-celebrity
exhibition will be played from 1:30-4:30 p.m. The activities climax
with the 'Evening with the Stars' gala from 7-11 p.m. at Riviera
Country Club. The gala will feature top entertainment and a live auction.

"I am honored to be asked to co-host the Bank of the West
Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic," Luke Jensen said. "It is going to be a
special day and night that will benefit three great causes and we are
especially excited to have Monica join us for the event."

"I'm still a tennis player, but I also have been studying very hard to
become an actor, so the fact that I can be a part of an event that
will bring tennis players and celebrities together in L.A. is just way
too cool," Murphy Jensen added.

Nine-time Grand Slam winner Monica Seles is considering a comeback
after watching Lindsay Davenport's successful return.

Davenport 'retired' to give birth to her first child in June and it
was thought that she would never again return to the court professionally.

However the American wasted little time in getting back into the sport
and claimed the Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic in Bali back in
September.

Seles has not played competitively since the 2003 French Open and
called time on her career due to a persistent foot injury.

However the 34-year-old is set to take part in an exhibition match in
Los Angeles this weekend and hinted that, inspired by Davenport, she
may return to the tour in a limited capacity early next year.

"What Lindsay did was just so cool," she said. "I certainly would not
ever be able to do a full schedule again because of the foot.

"But I'm thinking about the slams and about some of the better
tournaments that lead into them.

"I won't decide for sure until the beginning of the year, and the
Australian (Open) is certainly not possible. But Miami (in March) -
maybe."

MONICA Seles is considering a comeback after being inspired by Lindsay
Davenport's successful return after giving birth to a son in June.

Seles, 34, has not played since the 2003 French Open. Foot and back
problems forced her out of the sport.

The left-hander will take part in an exhibition in Los Angeles this
weekend and has tentatively planned a return to the WTA Tour in Miami
in March.

"What Lindsay did was just so cool," Seles said yesterday. "I
certainly would not ever be able to do a full schedule again because
of the foot.

"But I'm thinking about the slams and about some of the better
tournaments that lead into them.

"I won't decide for sure until the beginning of the year, and the
Australian (Open) is certainly not possible. But Miami. Maybe."

Seles said she still plays regularly with former world No. 1 Jennifer
Capriati, Martina Navratilova and one-time American prodigy Jimmy Arias.

Listen up tennis bettors, because, while the season is done for 2007,
recent rumblings in the media and astonishing announcements have all
but assured the upcoming 2008 Tennis Season will be compelling—giving
sports bettors, who have not yet discovered the joys of tennis
betting, some added incentive to turn to tennis handicapping in the
new year.

The recent revelations I allude to are in women's singles tennis—the
most surprising of which, is the suggested comeback of former
top-ranked player Monica Seles. Seles, who celebrated her 34th
Birthday on Sunday, announced she is toying with a return to the WTA
tour in 2008.

The nine-time Grand Slam Winner will play in an exhibition event— the
first Bank of the West Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic—in Los Angeles on
Saturday. At the charity event that raises money for an organization
that funds youth orientated charities, Seles will be joined by other
former tennis stars including Jennifer Capriati and Carling
Bassett-Seguso.

The last tournament Seles competed in was the 2003 French Open—an
event she had triumphed in three consecutive times (1990-1992)—but
after losing in the first round to Nadia Petrova, Seles did not return
to singles action that year.

The 2003 season saw Seles start the year at the Australian Open, but
hindered by an ankle sprain, Seles was abruptly eliminated in the R64
by the then No. 113 Klara Koukalova 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-3. In February,
Seles bounced back with a runner-up finish at the Tokyo Pan Pacific
(lost to Lindsay Davenport 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-2), but the following week,
in Doha, Seles' woes continued as she was narrowly defeated in her
opening match 7-5, 7-5 by Lina Krasnoroutskaya, who at the time held a
ranking of No.96.

After crashing out of the Qatar Total Open, Seles followed up with run
to the Dubai Tennis Championships final, where she lost to Justine
Henin 4-6 7-6(4) 7-5. Over a month later, Seles made what was to
become her last deep run in a tournament, reaching the quarterfinal of
the Bausch &Lomb Championships, where she ironically suffered a second
consecutive loss to Justine Henin 6-2, 6-4.

By the time the French Open kicked off in 2003, Seles (who dropped in
ranking to No.12 from her year-starting ranking of No.7) was suffering
from lingering foot injuries and back injuries and her first round
loss to Petrova, who ranked No.76 in the World at the time, remained
to date her last singles match.

Seles never officially retired. She just faded away. All but retired,
Seles informally finished her career with 53 titles, of which nine
were major titles – four Australian Open titles (1991-93, and 1996),
three French Open titles (1990-92) and two US Open titles (1991-92).

In Serena and Venus Williams' inspiring 2007 comeback season, and
Lindsay Davenport's resurgence late this year—winning in Bali and the
Bell Challenge in Quebec City— Seles finds the catalyst for her
motivation to return to tennis. Of course, with the Australian Open
only a few weeks away, do not expect to see Seles trading
groundstrokes with either one of the Williams sisters or Davenport in
Melbourne; but by the time the tour enters the spring portion of the
WTA Calendar, should Seles indeed return to tournament action, her
debut is anticipated at that time. In fact, Seles herself pegged her
renaissance for March, at the Miami Sony Ericsson Open—a return after
five years of absence. Just in time, to warm-up for the 2008 French
Open! Mon Dieux! Is this is a blooming cause for concern for the
reigning queen of Roland Garros—Justine Henin?

Monica Seles has revealed that she is considering a tennis comeback,
over four years since she last took to the court competitively.

As she prepares to take part in the first Bank of the West
Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic, the nine-time Grand Slam winner has
revealed that she is ready to make a playing return, albeit with a
limited schedule.

And she has targeted March's installment of the major tournament
hosted each year by Miami as a possible comeback date as she looks to
put the back and foot injuries that have tormented her for years top
the back of her mind.

"I still love to play. That has never lessened," Seles was quoted as
sayingby The Los Angeles Times.

"And what I know now, I wish I had known then. Like stretching more,
before and after matches. You'd go out and win, 6-3, 6-1, and say that
was easy and you wouldn't stretch."

The comebacks of the likes of Lindsay Davenport, who made an immediate
return after having a baby and swimmer Dara Torres, who returned to
the sport she loves at 40, have inspired Seles, who added: "What
Lindsay did was just so cool."

Seles' best years came before April 1993 whgen she was infamously
stabbed in Hamburg. She went on to win just one Grand Slam title after
that, but Henin, Sharapova, Mauresmo and co be warned, she could be
back to challenge for the big ones again in 2008.

"I certainly would not ever be able to do a full schedule again,
because of the foot but I'm thinking about the Slams and about some of
the better tournaments that lead into them," continued Seles.

"I won't decide for sure until the beginning of the year, and the
Australian is certainly not possible. But Miami - maybe."

The former top-ranked player hopes to be back on the women's tour by
March, and she'll be in an exhibition in Los Angeles on Saturday.
December 3, 2007

Sunday was Monica Seles' 34th birthday, and with it came news that
would be a gift to tennis fans.

She is considering a comeback.

The nine-time winner of the sport's Grand Slam events will be in Los
Angeles Saturday, as a participant in the first Bank of the West
Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic. Hosts of the event are former players
Luke and Murphy Jensen, who raise money for a foundation that funds
youth-oriented charities. It will be an all-day event at Riviera
Country Club, ending with an evening gala.

The Riviera event is exhibition tennis, and Seles will be joined by
other former stars such as Jennifer Capriati, Carling Bassett-Seguso
and her husband, Robert; Justin Gimelstob and the Jensens.

But by March, specifically at the major tournament hosted each year in
Miami, Seles may be striking the tennis ball in real competition after
what would then be nearly a five-year layoff.

She played her last match at the 2003 French Open, an event she had
won three times. She lost to Nadia Petrova in the first round and
hasn't played competitive tennis since, other than a few matches in
TeamTennis.

She had sprained her ankle badly in the Australian Open that year and
lost in the second round. By the time the French came around, she had
such severe back and foot problems that she had to stop playing after
her loss.

There never was any retirement announcement. She just kind of went away.

She was told the back injury would take at least nine months to heal,
and the foot injury, caused by a bone that still needs to be removed
but will not allow her to play effectively again if it is, continued
to linger.

Soon, Seles was retired in the minds of tennis fans, if not in her mind.

She lives in Sarasota, Fla., and is surrounded by people in the area
that she can and does play with now, including Capriati, Jimmy Arias
and Martina Navratilova.

"I still love to play. That has never lessened," she said. "And what I
know now, I wish I had known then. Like stretching more, before and
after matches. You'd go out and win, 6-3, 6-1, and say that was easy
and you wouldn't stretch."

She said she has been inspired by the comebacks of the likes of
Lindsay Davenport, who had a baby in the summer and was back playing
at her usual high level by the fall, and swimmer Dara Torres, who came
back at age 40.

"What Lindsay did was just so cool," Seles said.

Seles was the No. 1 player in the world in 1991 and 1992. Starting
with the French Open in 1990, she won eight of the next 12 Grand
Slams, while not even playing at Wimbledon in 1991. After she won the
Australian in '93, she was playing in a match in Hamburg, Germany,
when, in April '93 , during a break in her match when she was seated
courtside, a man named Guenter Parche came down from the stands and
stabbed her in the back. She didn't play again until August, 1995, and
won only one more Grand Slam, the 1996 Australian.

"I guess I kind of had two tennis careers," Seles said.

And now, perhaps a third.

"I certainly would not ever be able to do a full schedule again,
because of the foot," she said, "but I'm thinking about the Slams and
about some of the better tournaments that lead into them.

"I won't decide for sure until the beginning of the year, and the
Australian is certainly not possible. But Miami. Maybe."

Happy Birthday Monica, and what better way to celebrate this year's
Selesmas than to post this excellent article (though not from Marion
Bartoli's perspective, I suppose):

Seles Speaks
By Tennis Week
11/11/2007
http://preview.tinyurl.com/2rbpwk
>>>
She revolutionised women's tennis by playing a bold baseline-game and
producing power and short angles seldom seen in the sport. Monica
Seles possessed perhaps the most lethal return of serve in the
history of women's tennis, and a stirring shriek that accompanied her
stunning shots. In many ways, Seles was ahead of her time, but when
she surveys the tennis-landscape today, Seles said the women's game
needs more rivalry and intensity.

"[Justine] Henin has on average dominated the [WTA] Tour, but if you
look at the championships in Madrid, you see Henin beat [Marion]
Bartoli 6-0 6-0," Seles told Steve Hartman, Mychal Thompson and
Vic "The Brick" Jacobs in a radio interview she conducted on Friday
on "The Loose Cannons Show" on AM 570 KLAC. "Those scores shouldn't
happen in the championships. You want to see the top players play
each other. That's the only way the fans will tune in."

The former World No. 1 conducted the interview to promote her
appearance in the inaugural Bank of the West Pro-Celebrity Tennis
Classic, Dec. 8, at The Riviera Tennis Club. Grand Slam champions
Seles, Jennifer Capriati and Luke and Murphy Jensen, actor David
Duchovny and musician Gavin Rossdale are among the tennis and
entertainment stars scheduled to join the host Jensens for the event.
Seles touched on several tennis topics in the interview including:

* On being stabbed at a match on April 30, 1993 in Hamburg, Germany:
"I was only 19 when I got stabbed. It would never have happened in
any other sport. I said to myself, 'Why me,' but I was proud of
myself that I was able to move on and to get back to the sport that I
loved and adore. That to me was the final triumph after a few bad
years."

* On the lack of punishment to her attacker:
"I really felt that I could not justify in my own brain someone stabs
you in front of 7,000 people, admits that he planned it, and never
spends a night in jail. I don't feel safe playing there [in Germany]
again after what happened to me."

* On returning to tennis after her stabbing:
"I was lucky. My mom and dad had really strong personalities and
supported me. At the end of the day, the love I had for the game I
started at 7 years old motivated me to come back. I never imagined I
would make a great living and travel throughout the world. I started
playing tennis because I loved it. I tell kids, 'don't look at the
fame and the money. Play tennis because you love it.' I missed it."

* On not hearing from other players after her stabbing:
"The women's tour is very competitive. There's a lot of money at
stake. It is what it is. It was very unfortunate. It changed my
career and it changed Steffi's [Graf]. That's life. It is a business."

* On playing in the 1998 French Open after her dad, Karolj, died:
"My dad passed away a couple days before the French. I thought, 'What
would my dad want me to do?' He battled cancer. I thought, 'follow
your heart,' and my heart told me to go out and play for my dad. He
was a cartoonist. He always saw the lighter side of everything. Part
of me said stay home, but I knew that was not what my dad would have
wanted."

* On her dad's coaching philosophy:
"He saw the bigger picture of sports, instead of just win or lose. He
was human. Sports is a business and cutthroat, and people will do
anything to win, but I was lucky I had my dad as my coach and he
never put pressure on me. Win or lose, the love he gave me was the
same. Sadly I see too many cases are the other way now."

* On the state of women's tennis: "[Justine] Henin has on average
dominated the [WTA] Tour, but if you look at the championships in
Madrid, you see Henin beat [Marion] Bartoli 6-0 6-0. Those scores
shouldn't happen in the championships. You want to see the top
players play each other. That's the only way the fans will tune in."

* On tennis-players having shorter careers due to other distractions:
"It's harder now. You have to be a multi-media athlete. You have to
look good, speak well and do all the off the court stuff. In the old
days, we did much less. Tennis is a brutal sport. We play 10 and a
half months a year. It's hard to stay injury-free. A lot of the top
players struggle with that. Roger [Federer] has a different game. It
doesn't take as much out of him as Serena [Williams]. Roger has
played every Grand Slam since 1999. That statistic alone is amazing."

* On becoming a US citizen in 1994:
"It was the happiest day of my life. Playing in the Olympics in
Atlanta in 1996 and representing our country was the biggest honour
I've ever had. It surpasses all the tournaments I played in."

Expected to join Seles, Capriati, Duchovny, Rossdale and the Jensens
are former UCLA star Justin Gimelstob, former WTA Tour player Carling
Bassett-Seguso and Robert Seguso, actors Scott Foley, Donna Mills and
Eric Braeden, as well as other stars from sports, television, music
and film. The fun-filled day of tennis and an "Evening with the
Stars" gala will raise money for a number of Jensen designated youth-
oriented charities, including Jensen-Schmidt Tennis Academy for Down
Syndrome, the National Down Syndrome Society and The Riviera
Foundation.

The Bank of the West Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic gets underway with
a tennis pro-am from 9 to 11:30 am on 8th December, followed by a
kids' clinic from noon to 1:30 pm. A pro-celebrity tennis-exhibition
will be played from 1:30 to 4:30 pm. The activities climax with
the "Evening with the Stars" gala from 7 to 11 pm at The Riviera
Country Club. The gala will feature top entertainment and a live
auction.

"I'm honoured to be asked to co-host the Bank of the West Pro-
Celebrity Tennis Classic," said Luke Jensen. "It's going to be a
special day and night that will benefit three great causes, and we
are especially excited to have Monica join us for the event."

The Jensen-Brothers-designated youth organisations, including the
Jensen-Schmidt Tennis Academy for Down Syndrome, will help meet the
sport specific needs of children and young adults with Down Syndrome
and other special needs. In addition to meeting sport specific needs,
the other designated organisations will use multiple avenues in
assisting special needs and disadvantaged children.
<<<

Happy Birthday Monica Seles to you

Dananjaya


      
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Happy Birthdy to You Monica

Danan
--- In monicaseles@yahoogroups.com, monicaseles@yahoogroups.com wrote:
>
> Reminder from: monicaseles Yahoo! Group
>  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/monicaseles/cal
>
> Monica's Birthday
> Sunday December 2, 2007
> All Day
> (This event repeats every year.)
>
> Notes:
> Monica Seles has her birthday today December 2. She was born in
Novisad in 1973.
>
>
> All Rights Reserved
>  Copyright © 2007
>  Yahoo! Inc.
>  http://www.yahoo.com
>
> Privacy Policy:
>  http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy/us
>
> Terms of Service:
>  http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>

Monica Seles visited the Sabres locker room after last weekend's game
in which The Buffalo Sabres got the bounce they needed.

Thomas Vanek scored late in overtime and the Sabres rallied for a 4-3
victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.

HI

I M BIG SELES FAN FROM INDIA.
PLZ TELL ME RESULT THE SELES VS CORINA EXIBHITION MATCH.

THANK U
djkumar

What ever happened to Jennifer Capriati and Monica Seles, two ladies
who, when they are at the top of their game, can beat just about anyone?
I know Seles had an injury; USA Network said that she is quietly
plotting a comeback. When did Capriati leave the game, and is it for
good, and under what circumstances did she leave the game?
-- Terry Tyrpin, Schaumburg, Ill.

This might sound like crazy talk coupled with wishful thinking, but it
wouldn't surprise me to see either back in 2008. As for Seles, a
comeback is obviously a much longer shot, particularly given her age.
But then again ... she never retired. She hits regularly with Nicole
Vaidisova. My moles on the bayou tell me she looked sharp beating
Navratilova in a New Orleans exhibition recently.

Meanwhile, Capriati has been outspoken about her desire to return. We
heard that she underwent still another shoulder surgery last week and
will return to rehab. Say this: If the tennis fates owe any players the
chance to leave on their terms, you'd better believe J.C. and M.S. top
the list.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The children cheered wildly for a couple of ladies whose heydays were
before the kids were born.

The adults, who told the children about the greatness, cheered on
Friday as well, part in appreciation, part in awe, for the ladies
still can play.

Martina Navratilova and Monica Seles, tennis luminaries, played an
exhibition on Friday night at the New Orleans Arena, where
generations of fans united.

"It is just unbelievable seeing them live," said Abrie Duplooy, one
of the promoters of the event.

Seles won the best-of-three match 2-0, but the estimated 3,000 fans
were entertained by the intensity and prowess of Navratilova, 50, and
Seles, 30.

"They can still place the ball where they want to," said Susie Brown
of Mandeville, sitting in the second row. "Their skill level is still
there."

The event raised money for American Cancer Society, the New Orleans
Recreation Department and New Orleans Recovery School District.

Before the match, representatives from NORD presented the players
with an official proclamation from Mayor Ray Nagin, which declared
Sept. 14 as a day for honoring the tennis legends and their
commitment to New Orleans.

After the match, the players donated a check to Girls First, a non-
profit organization, which provides opportunities to underprivileged
girls in New Orleans.

"We hoped to inspire some young kids to pick up a tennis racket,"
said Seles, who won nine singles grand slams. "It is such a fun
sport. Maybe in 20 years someone from this crowd will be here in our
place."

Though Navratilova, who won 18 singles grand slams, didn't win a set
Friday, the match was still entertaining and hard fought. Navratilova
took a 3-1 lead in the first set, but Seles clawed back, one
trademark grunt at a time. Suddenly, it was 3-3. Navratilova took the
lead briefly with a blistering left-handed forehand down the left
side, but Seles tied the game at 4 on an equally emphatic play. Using
her two-handed backhand, another trademark, Seles' desperation shot
barely stayed in play down the right side, and Navratilova's return
went long.

Then leading 5-4, Seles made the play of the night, right after
Navratilova made what seemed like what would be the play of the
night. With a little magic from the old days, Navratilova gently
placed the ball over the net, and the ball just sputtered off after
landing in play. But Seles responded on the next serve, chasing down
a ball that she seemed unlikely to get to.

Not only did she make it in time, but she also smashed the ball past
her opponent. She proceeded to win the game, and the set.

Perhaps the loudest cheer of the night came in the second set, when
Navratilova, down 3-0, responded with resilience and made it a
surmountable 3-1 set, instead of 4-0. But Seles served the next game,
and capped it off with such an emphatic serve that Navratilova could
only lung and swing at the ball, which she missed, an ace to win the
point and the game. Navratilova won the next game, but Seles won the
following two, clinching the victory on a two-handed backhand.

"Monica just played too well," Navratilova said. "She's hitting her
serves so well, I had a very hard time returning the serves."

The evening was a light and joyous night, though for Navratilova, the
day began with frustration and sadness.

" I drove around today, and it's astonishing how little has been done
here," she said. "I'm from the Czech Republic, and there was a huge
flood there a few years ago. You would never know it. It was all
rebuilt.

"It's astonishing to me that we left these people behind. The
insurance company has failed and the people in the government have
failed."

We love tennis. Today's page gives you a brief history and some tips
from tennis champ Monica Seles on how healthy and fun playing this
wonder sport can be.

IT’S not always easy to get out and get exercise. You're in school all
day, sitting at your desk. When you get home, there's homework, dinner
and TV. Perhaps you have a recess at school or a gym class. If not,
it's even harder to get in a little time for fitness.

But, with too little exercise and too much junk food, you can quickly
find yourself with a few more pounds than you'd like.

Tennis is a great way to have fun and stay fit. Tennis offers you a
full body workout in a sport that you can begin playing as young as 4
and continue playing all your life.

Playing tennis burns tons of calories while helping your heart. In
just a half-hour, a 140-pound person can burn 254 calories. That's
about what you'd get in a slice of pizza.

Here's a little history on the sport:

Tennis is a “ball sport,” meaning that you need a ball to play. Ball
sports can be traced back as far as 1500 B.C. to the Egyptians, who
played them as part of their religious ceremonies. The game was first
played by hitting a ball off a wall.

Christian monks refined it into what would become tennis. It was
played indoors, with a leather glove to control the ball. Later, a
handle was added to the glove, creating the first tennis racquet.

The balls went from being solid wood to leather filled with bran.

The sport was hugely popular with European royalty and nobles, but it
soon found favor with the masses, and moved outside in the 19th century.

The term “lawn tennis” was coined by British statesman Arthur
Balfour
in 1875. The sport gained international fame after the England Croquet
Club offered lawn tennis as a bonus. The club, which was located in
the suburb of Wimbledon, had its first lawn-tennis tournament in 1877
and the world's most famous tennis tournament was born.

Tennis champ Monica Seles talked to Classroom Extra about her love of
the sport.

“I started playing at about age 8 after watching my brother play. I
played on a wall where we lived in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia,” she told
Classroom Extra.

It didn't take Monica long to get the hang of the game. At 14, she
played in her first professional tournament. By 17, she was the best
female tennis player in the world. She's won more than 40 titles.

But for Seles, tennis is more than just tournaments. It's just a great
all-around sport.” You should play because you love it,” she said.

Seles championed the benefits of the sport. “Kids learn hand-eye
coordination, concentration and discipline. Kids are so very easily
distracted, and playing tennis helps because you have to concentrate
on the court. You can learn about teamwork, but also about
individuality,” she said.

Seles is one of the great players of the game, but tennis has also
given a lot to her. “Traveling as a professional athlete, tennis has
given me great friendships around the world and an understanding of
different cultures that I will have for the rest of my life,” she said.

If tennis is not for you, there are other fun things you can do to
keep fit, like walking, taking the stairs and riding your bike. So get
up and get moving, but most of all have fun.


New York Post Activities

USE the Internet to learn more about the rules and history of tennis.

PLAY like an Egyptian, using a tennis ball or other soft rubber ball
and a wall.

MONICA Seles says, “Test your reaction on the court. Drop your
racquet, toss the ball, pick up your racket and try to make the shot.”

Source: New York Post

World Top tennis players Martina Navratilova and Monica Seles will
have an exhibition game in Bucharest, in the Romanian Open, Romanian
Tennis Federation announced here on Tuesday.

The Romanian Open, the 12th edition, starts on September 8 in
Bucharest with the qualifications and end on September 16 with the
finals, when the exhibition game between Martina Navratilova and
Monica Seles is scheduled, President of Romanian Tennis Federation
Dumitru Hardau said at a press conference.

The tournament will have 32 participants: 23 are directly accepted, 4
will play the qualifications, 3 wild cards will be granted and 2
places are offered to top players willing to come to Bucharest.

The Romanian Open will offer prizes worth of 353,450 euros (487,760
U.S. dollars) in total. The winner will receive 55,820 euros (77,030
U.S. dollars) and 175 ATP points.

Screen siren Sharon Stone raised a record seven million dollars for
Aids research at a glittering star-studded soiree late on Wednesday on
the sidelines of the Cannes film festival.

A tennis lesson with Monica Seles was sold for $35,000 in the campaign
against Aids.

PROVIDENCE — When the little girl was 7, her father wanted to take
her to his club to play tennis.

"She can't play tennis here. She has to wait until she's 12," the
manager told them.

Undeterred, the father took his daughter home, stretched a string
between two cars parked in the lot of their high-rise, and hit with
her. Later, when the pint-sized kid who was "smaller than the tennis
net" started winning tournaments and getting publicity, the club
relented and allowed father and daughter to play, but "at hours that
were still very unfavorable."

From those humble beginnings, Monica Seles rose to the top of the
women's tennis world, winning 53 tournaments and 9 Grand Slam
singles titles on the women's pro tour, earning $14.8 million,
reaching No. 1 in the Women's Tennis Association computer rankings
in 1991 and 1992. After recovering from a 1993 stabbing that
sidelined her for two years and three months at the peak of her
career, she regained the No. 1 standing in 1995.

Seles, 33, has been retired from competitive tennis for about four
years as a result of a chronic foot injury. She recalled her
childhood and her life in pro tennis yesterday for an audience of
about 150 professional women as guest of the Women's Initiative, a
group of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge female lawyers and their
clients that meets periodically to network and discuss issues of
interest.

The setting was ironic because the Hope Club on Benevolent Street
was a bastion of male power in Providence for decades.

Seles didn't dwell on April 30, 1993, when a 39-year-old unemployed
lathe operator, Gunter Parche, leaned over a 3-foot barrier and
stabbed her in the back with a 10-inch kitchen knife while she
rested during a changeover of her quarterfinal match at Hamburg,
Germany. She simply divided her career into two parts, before the
incident and after, and said, "I realized in that moment that life
can change."

Instead, Seles spoke enthusiastically about her start, joining the
women's tour at 14, meeting Billie Jean King, feeling empowered by
playing tennis, coming to understand how fortunate athletes in
America are, working with pre-schoolers in Florida to help them
avoid obesity, and using the tools she learned in tennis to address
her future.

Seles paid tribute to her parents, Karolj and Ester, but especially
to her father, her first coach, who fought against traditional
beliefs so she could play.

"Even in my own family, playing sports was not allowed. I remember
how many times my father, who was my mentor and my coach, fought
with my grandmother, who really believed that girls shouldn't play
any sports. She should just be playing with her friends or playing
with dolls. She would get me these Barbie dolls," she said.

She recalled an argument her father and his mother had over the
callouses that little Monica was developing. Seles' grandmother
lamented that "She's not going to be feminine if she going to have
these callouses. What are you doing to my grandchild? . . . I was 8
or 9 and winning tournaments under-12. Her concern wasn't
that, `Gosh, I might have a granddaughter who could one day be a
tennis player,' but it's more about `What is this going to do down
the road for her?' "

Seles credited her parents for standing up for her and saying, "My
daughter will get to do whatever she wants to do. If tomorrow she
wakes up and doesn't like tennis any more, that's fine, as long as
she does do something in her life."

That tomorrow, of course, never dawned. Seles won the prestigious
Orange Bowl tournament, caught the eye of junior tennis guru Nick
Bollettieri and enrolled in his academy, moved with her family to
Florida and grew up to be a tennis star.

"I realize now how lucky I was to have such wonderful parents who
encouraged me and let me follow my dream," she said.

Seles became a U.S. citizen in 1994. She had heard about Billie Jean
King but did not meet her until 1996 with the U.S. Federation Cup
team for a match in Japan.

"She's a lady who is so amazing," Seles said. "I had so much to
learn from her. We just sat there and listened to her stories."

Seles spoke about the value of sports for girls. She said sports
taught her discipline and the value of a strong work ethic,
mentioning that when she was No. 1 she worked harder because she
knew there was a hungry player coming up who wanted her position.

Tennis, she said, empowered her. "I knew who I was. I am a strong
person. It gave me so much self-confidence. The skills you learn as
an athlete in any sport are life skills."

Her work with pre-schoolers in Florida is an attempt to teach them
to have fun and to help moms, so busy with work and households and
family, to interact with their youngsters in a healthy activity, she
said.

Seles appeared relaxed as she mingled with female professionals of
all ages. She joked about her height, saying she grew 2 1/2 inches
in the two years she was out of action.

She was critical of the emphasis popular culture and the media place
on size and appearance.

"We live in an age when the media takes over . . . What role models
are kids seeing? What they're seeing is unattainable."

This was Seles' first visit to Rhode Island. As Renee A.R.
Evangelista of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge said in her
introduction, she will be back at some point for her induction to
the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

"Even in my own family, playing sports was not allowed. I remember
how many times my father, who was my mentor and my coach, fought
with my grandmother, who really believed that girls shouldn't play
any sports."

BY MIKE SZOSTAK
Journal Sports Writer

Kylie Minogue, Sharon Stone, Naomi Campbell and John Lennon's son
Julian have put in a glittering appearance at a charity bash in
Cannes.

The celebrities were attending a Ł2,500-a-seat dinner and auction to
raise money in the fight against Aids.

They were bidding for luxury lots including custom made Louis Vuitton
luggage, Swarovski crystal jewelled shoes and a one-on-one tennis
lesson from Monica Seles.

hi members
i have two extra tickets for phillipe chartrier court on 7 june 2007 to
see the ladies semifinals of the french open

good seats in the middle section of the stadium

kindly advise whether you are interested to purchase from me

snyman

Monica Seles has remained quiet since being sidelined with a chronic
foot injury in 2003, but she had a great deal to say on the court
when she played an exhibition match at the River Oaks Country Club
last week, her first public match in quite some time.

The 33-year-old, who makes her home in tennis haven Sarasota, Fla.,
arrived on the morning of her scheduled match against fellow tennis
great and former rival Martina Navratilova. After three practice
sessions, the 9-time Slam winner took to the court, her sea foam
green and white Yonex clothing hugging a much slimmer figure,
highlighted by well – her blonde highlights (see right photo).

Seles' nervousness was apparent from the start, but as the match
progressed, the former World No. 1 showed shades of the player that
once dominated the women's game before her career was cut brutally
short. Broken in the ninth game of the first set, she immediately
broke back and held at love to consolidate the break on her serve,
using the same punishing ground strokes that led her to three French
Open crowns.

The contrast of styles – Navratilova's one-handed serve-and-volley
game versus the double-fisted forehand and backhand from the
baseline-hugging Seles – produced some quality tennis with a bit of
humor mixed in for good measure. Seles, although playing an
exhibition, appeared to have more than the typical "hit-and-giggle"
mentality, focusing on the match point by point as if rankings
points were at stake – she offered only a half-apology for a net
cord at one point.

But the rust on court was not confined to the color of the clay.
even forgot to switch to switch sides after six games in the opening
set tiebreak.

"I'll take whatever I can get right now," she told the crowd after a
lucky winner. And take she did, winning the tiebreak and the set.

Navratilova came back in the second set, which took an entertaining
turn when a drop shot off Seles' racquet drew the 50-year-old
veteran wide. Navratilova went sailing off the court and nearly into
the first row of seats, where she playfully grabbed a spectator's
drink and took a sip. Realizing it was an alcoholic beverage, she
quipped, "That is the first and last time I'll ever do that. Now
I'll have a smile on my face no matter what."

That proved difficult to live up to, however, because she double
faulted on match point to hand Seles the match, 7-6 (1), 2-6, 10-1
(match tiebreak).

Having faced and overcome adversity in her career, spotlighted by
the stabbing she suffered at a tournament in Germany in 1993 and the
death of her father and mentor later in her career, Seles' resolve
is as much a credit to her as her accomplishments on the court. But
off the court, she remains somewhat shy, flashing her unassuming
smile when complimented or approached by fans, who packed the
stadium to watch her play in dipping temperatures and give a rousing
round of applause.

And the feeling was mutual.

"Except for [the groin pull], I am happy with everything, and
especially my foot," she told the Houston Chronicle. "This was a
good start and I am looking forward to playing more."

Other than suffering a slight groin pull, Monica Seles came out of
her 7-6 (1), 2-6, 10-1 exhibition victory over Martina Navratilova
at River Oaks on Thursday night feeling good about her evening's
work and the reception she received from Houston's fans.

"Except for (the groin pull), I am happy with everything, and
especially my foot," she said, speaking of the injury that has kept
her off the tour for almost four years and has required two
surgeries. "This was a good start and I am looking forward to
playing more."

Seles, who flew in from her home in Sarasota, Fla., on Thursday
morning, had three warmups, which spoke to her admitted nervousness
about playing in front of a paying audience for the first time in
ages.

Navratilova was herself going all-out for the first time since
celebrating her 50th birthday last fall.

She had arthroscopic knee surgery in November, having injured
it "playing on very bad clay in Warsaw."

But she likes the way she's playing, too, although she did add: "The
problem isn't hitting the ball. It's getting to it."

River Oaks tennis director Van Barry said Seles called as soon as
she got back to Florida to thank him for the experience, saying she
couldn't have been treated better.

==========================================
RIVER OAKS INTERNATIONAL TENNIS TOURNAMENT
(Houston, Texas, USA; clay; exhibition)
==========================================
http://www.riveroaksinternational.com/

+ Monica Seles [EF] d. Martina Navrátilová, 7-6 (7/1) 2-6 [10/1].

(The Houston Chronicle misprinted the score as 6-7 6-2 [10/1]
according to Ronny & James <http://www.monicaselessite.com/> who were
actually there.)

A lot of people have been talking about Monica as though she's done.
They say that even if she does come back, she'll be losing to
nonentities. I don't know anyone who's won nine Grand Slams and had
so many doubters in their lives.

But if there's been one recurring theme in women's tennis in the last
12 years, it's that class is permanent, and great champions can still
come back and be a threat to everybody (e.g. Monica herself in 1995,
Jennifer Capriati in 2001, Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters in 2005,
and Serena Williams in 2007).

Monica's not going to come back and lose to nonentities. She's going
to come back and dominate. It might only be for five tournaments (as
per the Houston Chronicle article), but even that would be enough to
match Pete Sampras's tally of 14 Grand Slam titles. And I do think
Monica might consider playing only the Grand Slams, if she thinks
that her left foot won't stand for a full WTA Tour schedule (excuse
the pun).

She seems to be prioritising the Slams she's already won (the French,
US and Australian Opens), but I crave her first Wimbledon-title like
oxygen. It's been an awful long wait for something that once seemed
so certain, but I would die a happy man if she could finally complete
a Career Grand Slam, and silence all the haters who say that you
can't be considered an all-time great unless you've won Wimbledon.

But Monica will always be the greatest tennis-player of all time,
regardless of whether she wins Wimbledon, because of the following
three facts combined:

1. She had already won 8 Grand Slams by the age of 19y 2m (Australian
Open 1993), and was winning them at a rate of 3 a year.

2. On 30th April 1993, she was stabbed in the back at a changeover by
a man who couldn't bear the thought of Monica usurping Steffi Graf
(who, at the time of the Stabbing, had won 11 Grand Slams by the age
of 23, and was ranked #2 behind Monica).

3. Monica came back in mid-1995, winning her first WTA tournament (a
Tier I) for the loss of 14 games in 5 matches, coming within an
overruled ace of winning the US Open 1995, and actually winning the
Australian Open 1996 for her 9th Grand Slam.

Sure, Monica may not have won a Grand Slam since the Australian Open
1996, owing to a series of injuries, the death of her father after a
5-year battle with cancer, and of course much stronger competition as
the new generation of power-players that she herself had inspired
with her hard, flat, early groundstrokes emerged. But nothing can
ever tarnish her legacy.

------
Photos
------

Monica playing her exhibition (and the Houston Chronicle article):
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/4692747.html

Off-court at River Oaks:
http://www.monicaselessite.com/home.html

Monica at the Laureus Awards:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/2qkktj
http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=news_photos&p=seles
http://isifa.com/result_ed.php?search_id=1083685
http://www.aapimage.com.au/search.aspx?Search=seles
Search Getty Images for "seles"

Monica gets better with age, like an old bottle of Cherry Coke (I am
a teetotaller, so I mean that as a huge compliment). Having often
been accused of being overweight in 1994-2003, if anything she's gone
the other way - her arms look very thin. But she certainly has
gorgeous collarbones.

When I became a Monica-fan (and tennis-fan) back in 1992, it was all
about the tennis for me. But now I find Monica more attractive than
when she was in her teens and tweens, and more attractive than any
other woman over 30 (a status Iva Majoli attains on 12th August 2007).

-----
Video
-----

Monica's return to the WTA Tour at Toronto 1995 - Seles v Po:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32WCzc7QLYA

-------------------
Quotes about Monica
-------------------

Serena Williams mentioned Monica in her fourth-round press-conference
at Miami:

"Well, what happened to Monica was awful, but ever since then the
security has been extremely tight, and every year it gets more tight
and more tight."


Shahar Pe'er mentioned Monica in an interview in the January/February
2007 issue of British tennis-magazine _Ace_:

"I used to like Monica Seles very much. She was always very
aggressive on the court. Some people say I look a bit like Monica. An
Israeli newspaper once put a picture of me next to a picture of
Monica and said we looked the same."

-------------------------------------------------------------------
All-time youngest players to win a WTA Tour singles main-draw match
-------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Mary Joe Fernández - 13y 6m - 1985 Miami
2. Jennifer Capriati - 13y 11m - 1990 Boca Raton
3. Steffi Graf - 13y 11m 10d - 1983 Roland Garros
4. Martina Hingis - 14y 1w - 1994 Zürich
5. Kathy Rinaldi - 14y 3w - 1981 Amelia Island
6. Tracy Austin - 14y 1m - 1977 Portland
7. Michelle Larcher de Brito - 14y 1m 3w - 2007 Miami
8. Stephanie Rehe - 14y 2m - 1984 Hershey
9. Gabriela Sabatini - 14y 2m 2w - 1984 Indianapolis
10. Monica Seles - 14y 3m - 1988 Boca Raton

So Monica was the seventh-youngest at the time that she did it.

--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/seles/ (added 1 external link)

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/selesians/

By DALE ROBERTSON
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

Monica Seles does not look back with anger or remorse, only with
occasional regret. And Seles' regret is tempered by two truths, that
she was a victim of bad luck, not bad behavior, and that her life has
been almost incomprehensively wonderful.

Yes, she got stabbed in the back in the middle of a match, derailing a
career that might have broken all the records. Yes, a chronic foot
problem, resulting in two operations, has made these last few years
frequently hellish while prolonging her official tennis swan song. But
there is no hint of bitterness when she speaks.

"I had terrible luck, that's true," Seles said. "What happened to me
has never happened to any (athlete). But what happened was beyond my
control. I didn't do anything wrong. Even the foot ... it just
happened. I'd be lying if I didn't say there were a lot of bad days,
but I've always tried to roll with it and stay positive."

Seles, 33, misses competitive tennis, and that as much as anything
explains this long goodbye. Almost four years after her last tour
match, a first-round loss at the French Open, she remains unretired.

Taking on Navratilova
That's why she played Martina Navratilova at River Oaks on Thursday.
The exhibition, which Seles won 6-7 (1), 6-2, 10-1, served as the
first step to determining the when, the where and the why of the last
step.

"My personal theory is, if you're retired, you're retired," Seles
said. "You don't come back. And I don't feel like I'm ready to say
that. I'm in such good shape. I only wish I was in this good a shape
when I was playing. It's hard to accept that, just because of an
injury, you're finished."

Seles dreams of playing the French Open again. The Australian and U.S.
opens, too, if not Wimbledon.

She believes she has maybe five tournaments left in her reconstructed
foot and, she said, "I want to make sure I'm fully prepared. The
tournaments I played injured were the worst times of my life. I told
myself I'd never do that again."

Wear and tear had caused a bone in the bottom of her foot to
disintegrate, causing pain.

"The last three years have been so frustrating," Seles said. "For me,
it's so simple. I just love to play tennis. Anyone that's been close
to me can see the ups and downs I've been through, feeling that it's
going to be OK, then being very disappointed and down all over again.
I could write a book on rehab.

"Finally in December, when I started hitting again, I thought, 'Hey,
this is feeling pretty good.' I still have to be very cautious, to
take every other day off, but I called Martina and said (playing an
exhibition) would be really fun. I told her, 'I know you're done, but
I'm not really sure I am.' "

Navratilova sort of owed her. When she was coming out of retirement
again a couple of years ago, she had recruited Seles for a pair of
matches in New Zealand, winning both. Back in the day, as Seles was
coming up and Navratilova was going down, they squared off 17 times in
less than four years. Seles won 10, including the 1991 U.S. Open final
and a Wimbledon semifinal in 1992.

Navratilova's career would become the antithesis of Seles' interrupted
one, enduring and fruitful. Seles has been forced to settle with fruitful.

"What happened to Monica," Navratilova said, "was ludicrous, so unfair."

Seles collected nine Grand Slam titles, eight of them before she
turned 20 — and seven of the last eight she contested before being
stabbed in the back by an unemployed Steffi Graf-obsessed lathe
operator in Hamburg 14 years ago this month. With Seles gone from the
tour for the subsequent 2 1/2 years, Graf collected six of her record
21 majors, three more than Navratilova's total.

There are plenty of players like Seles. She invented a genre. Her
two-fisted power game from the deep backcourt, accompanied by a
guttural symphony of grunts, moans and shrieks, foretold where women's
tennis was headed.

Beating an idol
But she would prefer to write the final chapter. And, if that's going
to happen, it will have started in Houston, where the story began. In
1989, Seles, then 15, beat Chris Evert at Westside Tennis Club to
claim the first of her 53 WTA titles. She remembers every detail.

"You're 15 years old, you've watched Chrissie who is kind of your idol
and suddenly you're across the net from her," Seles said. "I'd lost to
her pretty bad a couple months before in Boca Raton and, to just
actually win a tournament, against Chrissie, that was amazing.

"Growing up, everybody says, 'Oh, Monica is going to be great, blah,
blah, blah.' But, until it happens, you never really know. As a
player, you have doubts. (Beating Evert) was almost a validation. I
said I don't care if I ever win another tournament. At least I won
one. I'll never forget taking that big (cardboard) check they used to
give you in the old days onto the airplane with me. I still have it
somewhere. It was for more money than I'd ever seen — $50,000. How
could I forget that?"

rtina Navratilova and Monica Seles, two tennis legends with much
Houston history between them, will square off not before 7:30 tonight
in the biggest women's match at River Oaks since just after the dawn
of the sport's Open Era.

Neither has ever played at the club, which has held a men's tournament
since 1931 but last hosted a women's event in 1969, when the great
Australian Margaret Court won the title. However, Seles and
Navratilova combined to claim nine WTA tournament championships
between them at other local venues between 1976 and 1992.

Navratilova, 50, retired for a second time last fall after winning the
U.S. Open mixed doubles with Bob Bryan. Seles, 33, hasn't participated
in a sanctioned event since Roland Garros in 2003 because of chronic
foot problems. She plans to use the exhibition as a step toward making
a decision as to whether she'll attempt to play again.

Navratilova won six of the 10 Houston women's tour events she entered,
including four in a row from 1976 through 1979. Seles' first of 53
professional titles was claimed at Westside at Chris Evert's expense
in 1989.

Grandstand tickets, priced at $50 each, are still available.

Greeting from Monica's fan in Hong Kong...

I wish our Queen all the best no matter what she does for herself. :-)


To: monicaseles@...: tom.haegemans@...:
Tue, 3 Apr 2007 08:36:48 +0000Subject: [Monica Seles On-line] River Oaks
International begins with love




We could go on with tennis puns all day, but we're aces at getting tothe point.
This afternoon, play will begin in the River OaksInternational Tennis
Tournament. Did you know that the tournament isthe oldest event in the United
States still played at its originalsite and on its original surface? It's been
around for 72 years, butdoesn't look a day over 65.In all seriousness, the River
Oaks really is a Houston tradition, andhas drawn big names like Bjorn Borg,
Boris Becker, and Andre Agassi inthe past. This year's tournament kicks off at
1:30 this afternoon andincludes an exhibition match between tennis greats
Martina Navratilovaand Monica Seles at 5:30 on April 5.It all goes down on clay
at the River Oaks Country Club today throughApril 8, when the winner will
receive $300,000 in prize money. Nice.


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