I am delighted to report that Monica has been elected to the
prestigious International Tennis Hall of Fame - to be inducted on
Saturday 11th July 2009. It is an honour long overdue for the
greatest tennis-player of all time!

Another important event for Selesians to look forward to this year is
the publication of Monica's second autobiography - Getting a Grip:
On My Body, My Mind, My Self - on 21st April 2009.

--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://tinyurl.com/andrewbroad-seles

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

Photos of Monica (followed by many other players):
http://www.tennis.com/photogallery/photogallery.aspx?pgid=1

Just Monica:
http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=news_photos&p=seles

--------
Articles (15th January 2009)
--------

Class of 2009 Announced!
International Tennis Hall of Fame
http://www.tennisfame.com/tennisfame.aspx?
pgID=889&newsID=143&exCompID=56
>>>
(Newport, Rhode Island, USA) Established in 1954, the International
Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum is a non-profit organisation dedicated
to preserving the history and heritage of tennis and its champions.

Christopher Clouser (Chairman of the International Tennis Hall of
Fame & Museum) and Tony Trabert (Hall of Fame President) have
announced the names of the newly-elected members to the International
Tennis Hall of Fame.

Leading the Induction Class of 2009 is nine-time Major champion and
former world No.1 Monica Seles.

Joining Seles for Hall-of-Fame induction is one of Spain's most
prominent tennis-players of the 1960s - Andrés Gimeno - who has been
elected in the Master Player category. In addition, elected in the
Contributor category are Donald L. Dell - an industry pioneer and
leader in sports-marketing, professional sports management and sports-
television, and founder of ProServ - and the late Dr. Robert
"Whirlwind" Johnson: founder and director of the American Tennis
Association (ATA) Junior Development Program, who worked tirelessly
for decades assisting in the development of young African-American
tennis-players while helping to break the barriers of racial
segregation.

"It is our great pleasure to welcome the newest members into the
International Tennis Hall of Fame, and to honour them for their
brilliant careers and significant achievements in the sport of
tennis," said Clouser.

The Hall of Fame's Class of 2009 Induction Ceremony is slated for
Saturday 11th July in Newport, Rhode Island, during the final weekend
of the Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships (6th-12th July):
an ATP World Tour event.

The International Tennis Hall of Fame, inclusive of the Class of
2009, now honours 211 champions of tennis representing 18 different
countries.

Monica Seles, now 35, held the World No.1 ranking for 178
nonconsecutive weeks, and captured nine Major singles-titles:
four Australian Opens (1991-1993, 1996), three at Roland Garros (1990-
1992), and two US Opens (1991-1992). Her win-loss record at the
Majors was a staggering 43:4 at the Australian Open, 54:8 at Roland
Garros, 30:9 at Wimbledon, and 53:10 at the US Open.

In a career spanning 15 years, she captured 53 singles-titles and six
doubles-titles, and collected well over $14 million in prize-money.
She won three consecutive year-end WTA Championships (1990-1992), and
finished as the world's No.1 ranked player in both 1991 and 1992.

A natural lefty, wielding double-handed forehands and backhands, she
was a determined competitor. Her footwork was impeccable, her
groundstrokes powerful and aggressive, and she constantly attacked
her opponents with an arsenal of remarkable weapons.

At age 19, Seles had already won eight of her nine singles Majors,
and was at the top of her game. Then in April 1993, during a
changeover of her quarter-final match against Magdalena Maleeva in
Hamburg, a fanatical fan of Steffi Graf came out of nowhere and
stabbed her in the back: just below her left shoulder blade.

The horror of this event sent shockwaves through the tennis-
community, and 27 months would pass before Seles played competitively
again. When she returned to the courts, she was granted a co-No.1
ranking (shared with Graf), and won her comeback-event at the
Canadian Open, reached the US Open final, and followed up with her
ninth Major singles-championship at the Australian Open 1996.

Born on 2nd December 1973 in Novi Sad - in what was then Yugoslavia -
she moved with her family to the United States in 1987 at the age of
13 to train at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy.

On 16th March 1994, she became a US citizen. Seles would play on the
United States Fed Cup team for five years (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000,
2002) posting a career 15:2 singles-record and a 2:0 doubles-record
while helping the Americans capture the Cup in 1996, 1999 and 2000.

Seles remains the youngest champion in history to win at Roland
Garros (16 years, 6 months), and was the youngest winner of the Tour
Championships (16 years, 11 months), beating Gabriela Sabatini in the
first women's match to extend to five sets since the 1901 US National
final. In addition, Seles won the Olympic Bronze Medal in 2000.

Throughout her career, Seles won numerous awards, multiple Player and
Athlete of the Year awards, and humanitarian awards. She is currently
on the board of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and ICL
(Institution for Civil Leadership).

A panel of International Tennis Media voted on the Recent Player
selectee, where a 75% favourable vote is required for induction.
The International Masters Panel, which consists of Hall-of-Fame
inductees and individuals who are highly knowledgeable of the sport
and its history, voted on the Master Player and Contributor
selectees. To be inducted as a Master Player or a Contributor,
an affirmative vote of 75% is required.

HALL OF FAME ELIGIBILITY-CRITERIA

Recent Player: Monica Seles

Active as a competitor in the sport within the last 20 years prior to
consideration; not a significant factor on the ATP World Tour or WTA
Tour within five years prior to induction; a distinguished record of
competitive achievement at the highest international level, with
consideration given to integrity, sportsmanship and character.

Master Player: Andrés Gimeno

Competitor in the sport who has been retired for at least 20 years
prior to consideration; a distinguished record of competitive
achievement at the highest international level, with consideration
given to integrity, sportsmanship and character.

Contributors: Donald L. Dell and Dr. Robert Johnson (posthumously)

Exceptional contributions that have furthered the growth, reputation
and character of the sport, in categories such as administration,
media, coaching and officiating. Contributor-candidates do not need
to be retired from their activities related to the sport to be
considered.
<<<

Seles to be inducted into Tennis Hall of Fame (AP)
>>>
Monica Seles was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame on
Thursday - honoured for a career in which she won nine Major singles-
titles, and returned to the Tour after being stabbed while playing a
match.

Seles and the other members of the 2009 class announced on Thursday
will be inducted on 11th July.

"It was just a lot of highs and a lot of lows," Seles said during a
conference-call. "One of the things that always kept me going was my
love of the game."

Also elected were 1972 French Open champion Andrés Gimeno, ATP co-
founder Donald Dell, and the late Robert Johnson, who pioneered the
integration of tennis.

Known for her two-tone grunts and two-handed swings off both wings,
Seles won 53 singles-titles, including four at the Australian Open,
three at the French Open, and two at the US Open.

When she first rose to No.1 in 1991, she was 17 - at the time, the
youngest woman to have topped the rankings. By the time she was 19,
Seles already had won eight Major championships.

But in April 1993, at the height of her success, she was attacked by
a man who climbed out of the stands at a tournament in Hamburg,
Germany.

Seles returned to the game 27 months later, and immediately reached
the 1995 US Open final. Her last Major title then came at the 1996
Australian Open; she would go on to reach two more Major finals.

Seles said she does not dwell on how her career might have fared had
the stabbing not happened.

"I try not to ask myself those questions, because there are really no
answers to it," she said.

Hampered by a left-foot injury, she played her last match at the 2003
French Open at the age of 29. Thinking she might try to come back at
some point, Seles waited until last year to officially announce her
retirement.

Born in what was then Yugoslavia, Seles moved to the United States
when she was 13 to work at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy.
She became a US citizen in 1994, and helped the United States win
three Fed Cup titles.

Seles also won an Olympic Bronze Medal in 2000, and in 1990, at the
age of 16, became the youngest French Open champion in history.
She called her first Major victory the greatest of her career.

"As a 16-year-old, everybody says, 'Oh, you're going to be great,
blah, blah, blah,'" she said. "Until you actually do it, you don't
believe it."
<<<

Monica Heads Hall Of Fame's Class Of 2009
By Richard Pagliaro (Tennis Week)
>>>
From the very first time she recalls swinging at a tennis-ball,
Monica Seles held her racquet with both hands as if embracing a long-
lost family-member she never wanted to let go. The hug from the heart
for the sport that symbolises family-support remains within her.

She learned to play tennis in a parking-lot: belting balls bearing
the image of the cartoon-characters her cartoonist father, Karolj,
drew on the felt-sphere to make the game fun for her, and she grew
into one of the greatest players the sport has ever seen.

Seles always said nothing gave her greater joy than the simply
striking the ball. Today, Seles's coronation as a champion for the
ages became official as the International Tennis Hall of Fame
announced that Seles will lead the historic Hall's Class of 2009,
which will be inducted on Saturday 11th July at Newport, Rhode Island.

The nine-time Major singles-champion and former world No.1 was
elected to the Hall in the Recent Player category. Joining her in the
Master Player category is Andrés Gimeno. Gimeno was one of Spain's
most prominent tennis-players of the 1960s, who remains Roland
Garros' oldest singles-champion, winning the coveted clay-court title
in 1972. Elected in the Contributor category are: Donald L. Dell - a
former US Davis Cup player and an industry-pioneer and leader in
sports-marketing, professional sports management and sports-
television, and founder of ProServ - and Dr. Robert "Whirlwind"
Johnson, inducted posthumously: founder and director of the American
Tennis Association (ATA) Junior Development Program, who worked
tirelessly for decades assisting young African-American players (most
notably Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe) in gaining admittance into
previously segregated tournaments.

"I'm so excited and so honoured to be inducted into the Hall of Fame
alongside Andrés Gimeno, Donald Dell and Dr. Johnson," Seles told the
media in a conference-call today. "What a way for me to remember the
amazing tennis-career I had, and hopefully inspire young girls around
the world that dreams do come true. When I picked up the racquet for
the first time, I could never imagine where that racquet will take
you. And for me at age 35, with my tennis-career behind me, I can't
really put it into words what it means [to be inducted into the Hall
of Fame]."

Singles is a solitary sport, but Seles was never alone on the court —
she always felt accompanied by the father and family that introduced
her to tennis and nurtured her love for the game.

"I will get very emotional when I talk about him in July, because
really without him, I would have never nurtured my tennis," Seles
said of her dad. "Without my dad's love for the game and really just
making it fun for me... He never made it like it was something I had
to do. He just made it fun — that helped me stay in the game so long,
and to keep my sanity. When you see a player out on centre court, you
just see that person, but there are a lot of people behind them who
took them there, and in my case it was my family - especially my
father."

The two-handed titan captured nine Major championships and won 53
singles- and six doubles-tournaments, collecting $14,891,762 in
career prize-money in a professional career that began on 13th
February 1989. She first became No.1 in the world in March, 1991. She
was No.1 for 178 weeks during the next two years — the youngest No.1
ever at the time — until tragedy struck in April 1993, when she was
stabbed in the back during a match in Hamburg, Germany by a madman -
Günther Parche - who emerged from the crowd and plunged the blade
into her back just below her left shoulder-blade. Parche never served
prison-time for a vicious attack, while Seles was left to pick up the
pieces after a horrific attack that sidelined her for 27 months.

The attack literally cut her career as it approached its apex, and
while Seles said she tries not to wonder "what if" the stabbing never
occurred, the attack can still haunt her head.

"I thought of that probably the day after my stabbing; [now] it comes
and goes, and there are days I don't think about it," Seles said.
"Obviously now that I'm not playing, I don't think about it.
It is one of those things. Unfortunately it really changed the career
of mine and definitely Stefanie's [Graf's] career, and that was out
of my control, and it was really up to me to take control, and
I decided to play. What could have been? Nobody knows. What could
have been if I didn't pick up a tennis-racquet at seven? I try not to
ask myself those questions, because really there are no answers."

She was not able to play again for more than two years. When she did
return, she won even more hearts with her comeback-win at the
Canadian Open, then reached the US Open final the following month.
Remarkably, she then won her ninth Major title at the Australian Open
in January 1996.

The owner of a 595:122 record, Seles concluded 1991 and 1992 as World
No.1. In a sustained span of dominance, she won eight of the eleven
Major tournaments she entered from 1989 to 1993. Seles was also a
force in Fed Cup competition, posting a 17:2 record, including a 15:2
mark in singles-matches. She inspired a legion of top players,
including Venus Williams and Serena Williams, Ana Ivanovic and
Jelena Jankovic.

In a past interview with Tennis Week, Hall of Famer Jimmy Connors
said Seles's fighting spirit, willingness to play even closer to the
lines on pivotal points, and her aggressive baseline-style, made her
the player that most reminded him of himself.

"Who reminds me of me? Monica Seles is the player I think who played
the game the way I tried to play it." Connors told Tennis Week in a
past interview. "She always played as hard as she could every single-
match, and left it all on the court. I have tremendous respect for
Seles."

In her younger years, Seles revolutionised women's tennis by playing
a bold baseline-game, and producing power and short angles seldom
seen in women's tennis. The woman who took the ball so early it
looked like she was hitting half-volleys from the baseline, possessed
perhaps the most lethal return of serve in the history of women's
tennis, and a stirring shriek that accompanied her stunning shots.

"The ball is being hit harder and harder, and the girls are much more
complete players than they used to be - physically stronger," Seles
told Tennis Week in a past interview. "I think I probably was one of
the earliest to start it. I brought in power with two hands from both
sides. I was one of a few players that brought on this power-game,
and they've taken it to a new level. Then the grunting part:
everybody is now doing it. It's like normal now. Seeing women play
such aggressive tennis is really great."

Though Seles has limited her competitive appearances to World
TeamTennis and exhibition-matches in recent years, she still plans to
pursue her favourite tennis past-time with a passion: hitting.
The simple act of hitting the ball over the net over and over again
still brings genuine joy to one of the sharpest ball-strikers in the
sport's history.

"I had a very unusual career, to say the least," Seles told Tennis
Week. "I had some highs and lows. But at the end of the day, I got to
do something I loved to do. As a little girl, how I started playing
tennis was very simple. That part, I'm proud to say, has never
changed. To me, I get a great joy just hitting the ball."

Technically, Seles's trademark two-handed strokes were
unconventional. Mentally, she was one of the strongest players to
ever pick up a racquet, competing with fierce focus.

"You know, when you saw Monica Seles at 12 years old, you know I told
my friends I thought Monica would be the best player in the world,"
Nick Bollettieri, who worked with Seles early in her career, told
Tennis Week. "But when you looked at her natural physical ability as
a strong athlete able to push the weights and all that, you know she
didn't have that. But what she had was hitting the ball early, great
focus and determination, and always competed well. And I thought she
would be No.1, but to look at her physically, then you said: 'Well,
you know, I don't think this girl has it to make it physically.'
But mentally, she was just off the charts."

A stress-fracture in her foot forced Seles to step away from the WTA
Tour five years ago. She had not played a match since limping out of
the French Open in a 6-4 6-0 loss to Nadia Petrova in May 2003.
It was the first time in her storied career that Seles suffered a
first-round loss in a Major.

Adjusting to life after tennis was not a smooth transition, as she
slipped into an emotional void. Seles gained nearly 25 pounds at the
end of her career, and stuggled to lose the weight and find her self-
worth, and come to terms with her own identity as a person rather
than simply live with the label of being a life-long player. When the
ball stopped bouncing, the woman capable of digging so deep down on
the court had to work on herself and find her inner value away from
the game.

"Leaving my home at a very early age on, [you're] giving up something
for that, yet on the other end, getting so many great things: the
fame, financial freedom," Seles said. "There were the tragedies, and
really at the end of the day, it was discovering who Monica is, and
all the things that happened were outside of my hands. And during my
last three or four years [on the WTA Tour], you could definitely see
that in my weight. I look back at pictures, and I can tell you I just
was not a happy person inside. After I stopped playing tennis, I had
to give time to Monica and figure out what I wanted and who I was.
I had to deal with certain things I really didn't want to. My dad
always said, 'Put one step in front of you,' but at the end of the
day, you realise how fragile life was. My self-worth was in tennis,
my weight was very high, and I wasn't the happiest person - let's put
it that way."

That inner journey to self-discovery has prompted Seles to write a
book, which is scheduled for release this year.

"[The book is about] getting a grip on my body, my mind and myself:
my journey from tennis, fame, the tragedy, my self-discovery, and it
will be a lot written toward women about the weight," Seles said.
"I lost a lot of weight since I stopped playing tennis, which is a
big irony, since in tennis you exercise so much. I work with
preschoolers on fitness; [obesity] is one of my pet peeves, because
kids today are more sedentary."

Though she seemed to play with a ruthlessness on court, Seles was the
personification of graciousness off court.

"I was a normal person in some extraordinary circumstances," Seles
said. "I became No.1 as a teenager, I battled rebellion in my own
way, yet it was on a world-stage, so if I cut my hair short, it was
big news. At 19, to get stabbed by Parche on a tennis-court
definitely was unusual — something that never happened before or
since — and totally changed the course of my tennis-career. Coming
back to tennis at 21 was a big decision, and a year later [sic]
losing my father... it was lot of highs and a lot of lows.

"One thing that kept me going was I loved the game. Whenever I talk
to kids today, I tell them, 'You gotta love the game.' If you don't
love the game, then in the long run it's just not worth it. That love
really kept me through the good times and the bad times. I loved
playing tennis at my house in my backyard just as much as I did
playing on the centre court at the French Open or Wimbledon."
<<<

When billionaire businessman Tom Golisano pledged $10 million to
Niagara University Wednesday, several familiar faces were in the crowd
to support him.

Among those the Buffalo Sabres owner introduced were Larry Quinn, the
Sabres minority owner, and Darcy Regier, the team's general manager.

The last person to whom Golisano called everyone's attention was
tennis star Monica Seles. At one time, Seles was ranked number one in
the world. She's also known as the tennis player who was brutally
attacked during a match. In 1993, a fan of another tennis player
stabbed Seles in the back during one of her matches in Germany.

After Golisano answered questions about his contribution, reporter
Addie Bradshaw asked what everyone in the audience wanted to know:
What was Monica Seles doing at Niagara University?

Golisano asked Seles if she wished to answer; and, when she declined,
Golisano said, "Monica and I are friends. I'll tell you when we met.
The first, the outdoor hockey game January 1st, Monica was a guest at
the game and we've been friends ever since."

Former tennis star Monica Seles will host an exclusive live call-in
show that is aimed at empowering women to led their best life. ‘The
Monica Seles Challenge: 5 Weeks to Jump Start Your Life’ will air over
five weeks. Seles’ goal is to help women realise their best possible
selves across all aspects of their lives, personal, professional,
emotional and beyond.

"I love radio and the unique way it has to reach out to people with a
real and personal exchange of ideas and stories. SIRIUS has provided
just such an opportunity for me, my studio guests and the SIRIUS
audience to share our life experiences, learn from them, and hopefully
forge ahead into a happier and healthier future," said Monica Seles.

Seles will host the show from

SIRIUS XM Radio’s Rockefeller Center studios. Seles has long been a
role model for women and on SIRIUS she will have a forum to speak
candidly about both the troubles and successes she faced in her own
life and how these experiences made her stronger.

Monica Seles could have possibly won more Grand Slam singles titles
than any other female player, had her career not been cut short. Born
in Yugoslavia to Hungarian parents, she began playing tennis at the
age of six. Her father, Karoly Szeles, was her coach.

At the age of 14, she played her first professional tournament in
1988. She joined the professional tour full-time the following year
and won her first career title at Houston where she beat Chris Evert
in the final.

In April of 1989, she reached the semifinals of her first Grand Slam
singles tournament at the French Open. She lost to World No. 1 Steffi
Graf in a tough three-setter. She was only fifteen years old by then,
and had already made it to the semis of a major in her first opportunity.

Even more impressive was the fact that she took a set off Graf in the
semifinal match. Clearly, good things were to come for Seles and
nothing was impossible to accomplish. She won her first Grand Slam
singles title at the 1990 French Open, defeating Steffi Graf in
straight sets.

This victory made her the youngest French Open winner at the age of 16
years, six months. Seles would finish 1990 as the World's No. 2 ranked
player. Over the next two years (1991, 1992), the Hungarian would
dominate the women's tour.

A victory at the Australian Open began her 1991 season in solid
fashion. In March, she was the World's new No.1 ranked player,
replacing Graf. The victory in Australia was followed up by a
successful defense of her French Open title won the previous year.

Seles didn't participate at Wimbledon, taking a six week break instead
due to shin splints. However, she returned for the U.S Open and
defeated Martina Navratilova in the final to close out the year the
same way she started it.

In 1992, she successfully defended her titles at the Australian Open,
French Open and U.S Open. She reached the finals of Wimbledon but lost
to Graf in straight sets. Many believed that she lost at Wimbledon for
playing quietly. Normally, Seles would grunt when hitting the ball
much like Maria Sharapova does today.

A few opponents had complained about the grunting and as a result she
played silently in the final. From 1991 to 1993, Seles won 22 titles
and reached 33 finals out of the 34 tournaments she played overall.

She compiled an amazing 55-1 record at Grand Slam tournaments during
that time. In her first four years on the map (1989-1992), Seles had a
record of 231-25 while collecting 30 titles.

Seles was the best woman's player heading into 1993, and continued it
with a win at the Australian Open final against Steffi Graf. At the
time, this was her third win in four Grand Slam finals with Graf.

On April 30, 1993, the world was shocked at what took place in a
tournament in Hamburg. Seles was playing Magdalena Maleeva in the
quarterfinals and leading 6-4, 4-3. During a break between games, a
psycho fan of Graf ran on the court and stabbed Seles between the
shoulder blades.

I won't mention his name because the piece of trash doesn't deserve to
be remembered. Seles' physical injuries healed after a few weeks, but
she was still affected psychology. How can you blame her? Imagine
having to watch your back after every point is played in a match.

It took over two years for her to return to competitive action. She
promised to never play tennis in Germany ever againâ€"another decision
that I'm sure none of us can argue. Just the fact that she returned to
tennis alone is a great act of courage.

A band called Young Elders, sent a song called Fly Monica Fly to Seles
while she was recovering in the hospital. Dan Bern also made a tribute
to her, called Monica.

Seles returned to the tour in August of 1995 and won her first
comeback tournament, the Canadian Open. She returned to the final of
the U.S Open that year too, but lost to Graf in three sets.

In January of the following year, Seles won her fourth Australian Open
defeating Anke Huber in the final. Sadly, this would be her last Grand
Slam title. Struggling to regain her best form on a consistent basis,
Seles would still make the finals of the 1996 U.S Open before losing
to Graf again.

Her last Grand Slam final came in 1998 at the French Open where she
lost to Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. Seles absolutely punished the ball
when hitting it. Her main weapons were the two-fisted forehand,
backhand shots and a dominating return of serve. Unsurprisingly, she
had great speed too and was able to get to most of the balls.

She is considered by many to be the first power player in the women's
game, inspiring players like Venus and Serena Williams, Lindsay
Davenport and others. As I mentioned earlier, she grunted constantly
during matches, which is why Maria Sharapova is so similar to her with
the power and screaming.

It's a tragedy that one of the finest tennis careers was ruined by a
lunatic. Even still, she was able to pull off one more Australian Open
title and a few finals before retiring. Seles was known as one of the
best clutch performers, having tremendous composure during the biggest
points.

She had eight Grand Slam singles titles at just the age of 20 and
finished with nine in the end. Monica Seles had the potential to win
as many titles as Steffi Graf or Martina Navratilova (if not more).
Monica is the only woman to have won her first six Grand Slam singles
finals.

People all over the world loved to watch this woman play. The career
is over, but certainly not forgotten.

NEW YORk, New York --
Monica Seles has one word of advice for the new contestants of
"Dancing With The Stars" — well, one word, repeated thrice — practice,
practice, practice.


"Oh boy, be ready for lots of practice," she told Access Hollywood at
the "Entourage" season five premiere in New York on Wednesday night.
"And [a] crazy schedule. I was only on there for two weeks, so I
really didn't get to experience the whole show, but even the little
that I was on, it's a lot of work."


Seles competed on the ABC show's sixth cycle, pairing with
professional dancer Jonathan Roberts.


The tennis champ says she's pulling for another athlete this season,
Olympic beach volleyball repeat gold medalist Misty May-Treanor.


"Misty May is on this, [I'm] rooting for her," she said. "It should be
very exciting."


Seles, a nine-time Grand Slam winner who announced her retirement from
the sport this past February, has found plenty of life after tennis
and "Dancing."


She kicked off her new Sirius Satellite Radio show, "The Monica Seles
Challenge: 5 Weeks to Jump Start Your Life," on Thursday.


"I'm very excited about that," she said of the live five-week series.
"You know, it's just going to be a lot of women sharing stories,
crying, laughing."


As for her presence at the "Entourage" premiere, Seles said she had a
lot in common with the HBO comedy.


"I'm a huge fan of the show," she said. "I mean, it's kind of similar
to [the] tennis tour because we have our own entourage, but I think
this is a much more fun entourage then I got to experience."

Monica Seles never visited the International Tennis Hall of Fame until
this past July, when she served as the presenter for the induction of
IMG founder Mark McCormack.

Now that she knows her way there, Seles should have no trouble getting
to the Newport, R.I., site next summer when she is inducted as part of
the 2009 Hall of Fame class.

Though technically the list of inductees won't be official until
January, Seles' inclusion was cemented this past week when she was
placed on the ballot in an announcement during the U.S. Open.

"It is such a great honor," said Seles, who is among the greatest
women champions of all time. "Obviously, at some point I knew I was
going to get in but to get in this quickly ... that was a little bit
of a surprise."

It shouldn't be. Seles clearly belongs in the Hall of Fame of a game
she dominated at the height of her career.

The Sarasota resident transcended the sport to become an international
celebrity during a career spiced with intrigue. Her Greta Garbo-like
mystique off the court became legendary. Her shrieks when hitting the
tennis ball were her calling card and are imitated by a host of players.

She will also forever be remembered as the victim of a stabbing on the
court by a deranged tennis fan, an incident that robbed her of more
than two years of her playing career.

It was her success on the court that paved her way to the Hall of Fame.

Seles, who remains the youngest player to win the French Open (16
years, 6 months), was ranked No. 1 for 178 weeks and won nine Grand
Slam singles titles. She finished the year ranked No. 1 in the world
in both 1991 and 1992 and was clearly the best player in the game when
her career was interrupted in April 1993. She was stabbed just below
her left shoulder blade while she sat in a chair during a changeover
in a match played in Germany.

When Seles returned to the game, she won the first tournament she
played, got to the semifinals of the U.S. Open and won her final Grand
Slam event the following January in Australia. But she never dominated
like she had before the stabbing.

She last played at the 2003 French Open, where she lost in the first
round. Foot problems eventually ended her playing career.

"This is one of those once-in-a-lifetime things. It finishes the
career I had," Seles said about the Hall of Fame.

She is currently at the U.S. Open, where she is attending various
functions and preparing for a talk show she will host beginning today
on Siruis radio. The show, called "The Monica Seles Challenge: Five
Weeks to Jump Start Your Life," is designed to help inspire listeners
to have a happier, healthier, more confident life.

"It is really about women's issues, about weight loss and mind and
body connection," Seles said. "There won't be much sports, except that
I can draw on my background. It is about women talking and sharing
information. I am excited about that."

Seles is keeping a busy schedule, which includes writing a book,
speaking engagements and her pet project of enticing children to exercise.

"Just to get them to move and get some fresh air in their little
lungs," she says.

There had been a plan to play an exhibition match this week with
Martina Navratilova but a torn labrum in her shoulder will keep Seles
from picking up a tennis racket for several months.

Just because she isn't playing tennis doesn't mean that Seles is out
of shape. She has completely remodeled her body, which she believes
will help her relate to people in her new radio endeavor.

"I overcame my own weight loss and the emotional side that comes with
it," she said. "I believe in it so much. My heart is in it."

Seles admits that her recent appearance on the "Dancing with the
Stars" TV show was more difficult than she expected, yet she insists
she has no regrets.

"When I signed up for it I thought it would be different," she said.
"I didn't really think it through too much. I had never done any of
those artistic things. I was always more sports oriented."

Though she was the first female dancer to be voted off this past
season, she felt the time on the show gave America a chance to see a
different side of her.

"Most people had only seen me in tennis outfits and I always had an
aggressive look on my face because I was hitting a tennis ball," she
said. "People got to see that there was a woman out there.

"It was an exciting experience and I am happy I did it."

And the tennis world should be happy she made a career out of playing
the game.

NEW YORK, Sept. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SIRIUS XM Radio (Nasdaq:
SIRI) announced today that internationally acclaimed tennis superstar
Monica Seles will host an exclusive live call-in show aimed at
empowering women everywhere to lead their best life. The Monica Seles
Challenge: 5 Weeks to Jump Start Your Life will air in five weekly
installments airing every Thursday from September 4th through October
2nd from 1:00 - 3:00 pm ET on SIRIUS Stars channel 102. Seles will
host the show from SIRIUS XM Radio's Rockefeller Center studios.

Seles has long been a role model for women and on SIRIUS she will have
a forum to speak candidly about both the troubles and successes she
faced in her own life and how these experiences made her stronger.
With The Monica Seles Challenge, Seles encourages listeners to join
her on a five-week journey toward feeling strong, beautiful, happy and
healthy - on the inside and out. Seles' goal is to help women realize
their best possible selves across all aspects of their lives,
personal, professional, emotional and beyond.

Seles will welcome expert guests, athletes, celebrities and real women
and will take calls from around the country.

"I love radio and the unique way it has to reach out to people with a
real and personal exchange of ideas and stories," said Monica Seles.
"SIRIUS has provided just such an opportunity for me, my studio guests
and the SIRIUS audience to share our life experiences, learn from
them, and hopefully forge ahead into a happier and healthier future."

"Monica Seles is an extraordinary person whose passion, determination
and courage - both on and off the court - shaped her into the
world-class athlete and woman she is today," said Scott Greenstein,
President and Chief Content Officer, SIRIUS XM Radio. "On SIRIUS,
these qualities will translate into compelling radio as she empowers
and inspires listeners across the country."

Over Seles' extraordinary tennis career, she earned nine Grand Slam
titles and won 53 singles and six doubles tournaments. She first
became No. 1 in the world in March 1991. Seles was No. 1 for 178 weeks
during the next two years- the youngest No. 1 ever at the time- until
tragedy struck in April 1993 when she was stabbed in the back by a
deranged fan during a match in Germany. She wasn't able to play again
for more than two years. When she returned to tennis, she won hearts
with her comeback win at the Canadian Open and then reached the US
Open Final the following month. Remarkably, she won her ninth Grand
Slam title at the Australian Open in January 1996. Seles joined the
cast of ABC-TV's hit "Dancing with the Stars" in 2008. Seles is
currently writing her memoir, Getting a Grip: On My Body, My Mind, My
Self, in which she explores her remarkable journey of tennis, fame,
tragedy, loss and self-discovery. Her book is scheduled for
publication in March 2009 by Avery, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA).

Well, it's certainly high time Monica was inducted into the Hall of
Fame, but her induction is subject to a vote:

Nishikori makes name for himself at US Open (Associated Press,
28th August)
By Ben Walker: AP National Writer
>>>
MONICA MANIA

Nine-time Grand Slam champion Monica Seles heads the list of five
candidates for the next class in the International Tennis Hall of
Fame.

Former French Open winner Andres Gimeno and tennis-leaders Donald
Dell, Dr. Robert Johnson and Eiichi Kawatei also were put on the
ballot on Thursday.

Voting will be held for the next few months, and results will be
announced in January. The induction is set for 11th July in Newport,
R.I.

The 34-year-old Seles won four Australian Opens, three French Opens
and twice at the US Open. Known for shrieking when she made shots,
Seles finished as the world's No.1 player in 1991 and 1992.

She was 19 when a man came from the stands during a 1993 match in
Germany and stabbed her in the back. Seles was out of action for more
than two years, and later won the Australian Open.
<<<

There's also a stunning photo of Monica from the US Open 2008 Opening
Ceremony:
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/photogallery/?Event=usopen_oc
- of which a larger, less cropped, but watermarked variant can be
found on Getty Images.

--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/seles/

It was just another changeover at just another tournament.

Monica Seles and Magdalena Maleeva walked to their chairs with Seles
leading 4-3 in the second set of their Citizen Cup quarterfinal in
Hamburg 15 years ago Wednesday, something they'd done hundreds of
times previously.

Then Gunter Parche, an unemployed lathe operator, altered the course
of tennis history and irreparably damaged Seles' career by plunging a
knife into her back, just below the left shoulder blade. Seles
staggered to the net, officials rushing toward her, before collapsing
to the clay.

"I had no idea what was going on,'' Maleeva recalled this week. She
was 18 at the time, a year younger than Seles. "I just saw her falling
to the ground, and I was scared. I didn't see any blood. If I would
have seen blood, I would have been very, very scared. It was a
terrible feeling for Monica because something unjust happened to her.''

The tournament continued with Seles in hospital, and Maleeva lost to
Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario the following day.

"When I look back, I was very surprised that we all went on the court
the next day and played our matches as if nothing happened,'' said
Maleeva, the youngest of three tennis-playing sisters and a former
world No. 4. "I would have thought we should have all stopped playing.
I think this would have been the better thing to do.''

Seles' wound eventually healed, although the youthful exuberance was
gone. Having won seven of eight Grand Slams she entered from 1991-93,
she took two years off and claimed only one more major. Parche, a
Steffi Graf fan who wanted her to reclaim the top ranking, received a
two-year suspended sentence.

Seles, hampered by foot injuries, retired in February.

"Like 9/11 changed the world, the Monica Seles incident changed
tennis,'' said Micky Lawler, a member of the WTA Tour's board of
directors and managing director of tennis at Octagon. "Once everyone
had the opportunity to step back and take a breath, things had to
happen. Tournaments had to expect much stricter and a higher standard
of security. There was an overhaul on the way security was done.''

In the immediate aftermath, among other actions taken, security
officers hovered behind the chair umpire, and pros, male and female,
faced the ump at changeovers.

Fast forward to 2008, and the improvements continue.

At the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, the unofficial fifth Grand Slam
that drew a tournament-record 297,011 fans in March and April and
houses singles fields of 96, a six-foot barrier separates the stands
and court. Security watches the players during breaks, and all four
corners of the court feature staffers or monitors.

Between 300 and 400 people are used for security, with the number not
changing much in recent years, said tournament director Adam Barrett.
The composition is different. All have picture identification.

"People you're hiring to do the jobs have to be better trained than
ever before,'' Barrett said. "They have to know about security, so
while we still have similar numbers of bodyguards or escorts, these
people need to be better trained and need a higher level to work these
important security positions.''

Coordinating simple autograph sessions or getting a player from one
location to another requires ample planning. Then there's trying to
balance player safety with fan accessibility.

Getting on a player guest list is hard work.

"The player guest list has always been there,'' Barrett said. "Now at
the Sony Ericsson Open, only the player can put someone on their list
in person. If they have to do it by phone for whatever reason, it has
to be that player and we have to be pretty well-assured that that
player is the one on the phone.''

In February, the WTA Tour announced that background checks would
become standard practice for people wanting access to secure player
locations at events. In the last year, several men's players admitted
they were asked to throw matches, an issue that gained prominence
after the Nikolay Davydenko saga. Online betting company Betfair
reported unusual wagering patterns in an encounter involving Davydenko
and underdog Martin Vassallo Arguello at the Orange Prokom Open in
Poland last summer. Most of the money was on Vassallo Arguello, and
Davydenko retired in the third set. The ATP is still investigating the
circumstances around the match.

"Five years ago we didn't have a person within the tour responsible
for player security in all forms and that the players could go to
confidentially,'' said Larry Scott, the WTA Tour's chairman and CEO.
"We didn't have a task force.''

The fans have to be protected, too.

Major sporting events and venues suddenly became possible targets
post-9/11, so an unattended bag or briefcase raises suspicions. (Bag
checks are routine, for instance, at Wimbledon.)

While tournaments are essentially responsible for their own security,
the WTA Tour uses the services of Control Risks, an independent firm
that allows companies to manage strategic and operational risks. They
monitor places where tourneys take place and give the tour in-depth
analysis when needed, Scott said.

No matter what's implemented, it still can't guarantee that scenarios
such as the Seles stabbing won't happen again.

"When someone is so crazy, I don't know if anything can stop them,''
Maleeva said.

There were easily more laughs and chuckles than grunts Saturday at the
Alvernia Physical Education Center as Berks County was entertained by
tennis professionals Monica Seles, Corina Morariu, John Isner and
Johan Kriek at the 14th annual Legends of Tennis event.

Seles, fresh out of her dancing shoes from her recent appearance on
"Dancing with the Stars," and the other tennis stars made the
afternoon exhibition a memorable one for eight local scholastic
players who got the chance to play alongside and across the net from
the pros.

Qualifiers Emily Broadbent and Shawn Bittinger of Exeter, Victoria
Foanio and Ally Balaci of Holy Name, Michael Meyer of Conrad Weiser
and Zach Simon of Wyomissing joined four-time Berks girls singles
champion Martha Blakely and two-time boys singles champion Tommy Meyer
in the exhibition.

The event, which benefits the Berks County Chapter of the American Red
Cross, has raised more than $750,000 over its 14-year history.

Seles to Headline 2008 Legends of Tennis Event
United States Tennis Association
7th April 2008
Corrections by Andrew Broad (no affiliation with the USTA)
>>>
The American Red Cross, Berks County Chapter is delighted to welcome
tennis-legend and "Dancing with the Stars" contestant Monica Seles to
the 14th Annual Legends of Tennis event. Joining Seles are John
Isner, Johan Kriek and Corina Morariu. Catch the action at Alvernia
College's Physical Education Center [sic] at 2:30pm EDT on 12th April.

Legends of Tennis is a two-day event that includes tennis-clinics,
food, fun, music and top-notch court-action by professional tennis-
players.

Guests are invited to participate in the clinics and watch the edge-
of-your-seat tennis-matches. In addition to a Legends doubles-match,
this event includes an exhilarating match featuring local high-school
tennis-players paired with the professionals. Join the Berks County
Chapter in welcoming the former #1-ranked woman!

Born in Yugoslavia in 1973, Seles came to the United States in 1986
when she enrolled in the Nick Bolletieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton,
Florida. She played her first professional tournament in March 1988
at the age of 14, and won her first career-title at Houston in April
1989, where she beat Chris Evert in the final. Seles won her first
Grand Slam singles-title at the French Open in 1990. Seles first
achieved the #1 ranking in the world in 1991 at the age of 17.

She was the youngest player ever to have achieved that ranking. Seles
was named WTA Player of the Year in 1991 and 1992, and held the #1
ranking until June 1993 - after being stabbed during a match in
Hamburg, Germany on 30th April 1993. She did not return to the WTA
Tour until the Canadian Open in 1995, when she came back co-ranked #1
and won the tournament. In the spring of 2003, a foot-injury forced
Seles to refrain from playing on the WTA Tour until she announced her
retirement on 14th February 2008. Seles has 53 career-titles and 9
Grand Slam victories: 4 Australian Opens, 3 French Opens and 2 US
Opens.
<<<
Source (including photo and contact-details for the event):
http://preview.tinyurl.com/59qwox

--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/seles/

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

===============
Monica's memoir
===============

It looks like Monica is writing a follow-up to her 1996
autobiography, Monica: From Fear to Victory!

Former tennis-star Monica Seles writing memoir (AP, 19th March 2008)
>>>
Former tennis-great Monica Seles is working on a memoir.

She said in a statement on Wednesday that she hopes "to share how I
found balance, strength and happiness in my life after a
rollercoaster-ride of exhilarating accomplishment and sometimes
overwhelming tragedy."

The book, currently untitled, will be published in 2009 by Avery: an
imprint of Penguin Group (USA).

Seles, 34, won nine Grand Slam tournaments, and as a teenager was the
top-ranked women's player for three years in the early 1990s. But she
is also known for one of the sport's most bizarre and terrifying
incidents: in April 1993, at a tournament in Hamburg, Germany, she
was stabbed in the back by a man who climbed out of the stands.

Seles returned to the game 27 months later, and immediately reached
the 1995 US Open final. Her final Grand Slam title then came at the
1996 Australian Open. She did reach two more Major-finals, but was
hampered by a left-foot injury. Her last match was a first-round loss
at the 2003 French Open. She officially retired last month.

Seles, who has struggled with weight-problems, is currently a
contestant on the hit ABC series "Dancing with the Stars".

"After years of having every aspect of her training, diet and life
dictated and scrutinised by others, Monica took control, deciding
what she wanted from life, and set out to obtain it," her publisher,
Avery, said in a statement.

"Cutting through the fog of sadness, fear and frustration that made
Seles overweight and unhappy, today she looks and feels better than
ever, and has created a life in balance."
<<<

Seles To Write Memoir
By Tennis Week
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
>>>
Monica Seles closed one chapter of her life when she announced her
retirement from professional tennis on February 14. The nine-time
Grand Slam champion will author the next chapter of her life when she
puts her story into print.

The 34-year-old Seles has sold her memoir to Avery, an imprint of
Penguin Group (USA). The untitled project is scheduled for
publication in March 2009. The auction for world rights was conducted
by Dana Beck at Bill Adler Books.

Seles will explore her remarkable journey of brilliant tennis, fame,
tragedy, loss and self-discovery. After years of having every aspect
of her training, diet and life dictated and scrutinized by others,
Seles says she took control, deciding what she wanted from life and
set out to obtain it.

"On February 14th, I officially retired from professional tennis,
closing one chapter of my life," Seles said. "I'm now opening a new
chapter where I hope to share how I found balance, strength and
happiness in my life after a rollercoaster ride of exhilarating
accomplishment and sometimes overwhelming tragedy. Avery is giving me
the opportunity to put this journey in words, and I'm thrilled to be
working with them."

John Steele, Senior Vice President at IMG, who represents Seles in
her non-tennis activities, added, "Since Monica won the French Open
at age 16, she has been living in the public spotlight but she has
never really discussed the struggles that went along with all the
victories. It will be both a remarkable read and a motivating story
of finding health and happiness."
<<<

Game, Set, Book: Monica Seles to Pen Memoir (19th March 2008)
www.onthebaseline.com
>>>
When Monica Seles announced her official retirement from tennis last
month, she closed the book on her storied but turbulent life as a
professional tennis-player.

Now that the final chapter of her career has been written, Seles
plans to publish her memoirs.

In this inspiring and revealing memoir, Seles will explore her
remarkable journey of brilliant tennis, fame, tragedy, loss and self-
discovery. After years of having every aspect of her training, diet
and life dictated and scrutinised by others, Monica took control,
deciding what she wanted from life and set out to obtain it.

Cutting through the fog of sadness, fear and frustration that made
Seles overweight and unhappy, today she looks and feels better than
ever and has created a life in balance.

Seles has sold her autobiography to Avery, an imprint of Penguin
Group (USA).

"On February 14th, I officially retired from professional tennis,
closing one chapter of my life," said Seles.

"I'm now opening a new chapter where I hope to share how I found
balance, strength and happiness in my life after a rollercoaster-ride
of exhilarating accomplishment and sometimes overwhelming tragedy.
Avery is giving me the opportunity to put this journey in words, and
I'm thrilled to be working with them."

John Steele, Senior Vice President at IMG, who represents Seles in
her non-tennis activities, added, "Since Monica won the French Open
at age 16, she has been living in the public spotlight, but she has
never really discussed the struggles that went along with all the
victories. It will be both a remarkable read and a motivating story
of finding health and happiness."

The untitled project is scheduled for publication in March 2009.
<<<

======================
Dancing with the Stars
======================

For those of you who want to see Monica on _Dancing with the Stars_,
there are some online videos:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/ysrycq (Monica the dancer)
http://preview.tinyurl.com/25nfjv (Monica's mango)

Monica is the only - and therefore the greatest - dancer I have ever
seen. Well, actually I did see a promising young dancer named Iva
Majoli on Youtube from the Croatian version of DwtS last year: Iva
has nice long legs, but I prefer watching Monica dance because what
she brings to it is that great innocent humour of hers that makes me
laugh. And Monica is the best-looking 34-year-old I have ever seen.

Monica may have been the first to be voted off DwtS after only two
rounds, scoring only a third of the possible marks, but I don't care
about the results. What matters is that she gave us something to make
up for the crushing blow of her retirement, at a time when we had
hoped her to be playing Miami.

I find it ironic that Monica has switched to dancing after a stress-
fracture in her left foot ended her tennis-career. I never would have
thought that tennis actually required better footwork than dancing!

--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/seles/

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

Monica Seles is out on Dancing with the Stars as is Penn Jillette.
While he left definitely and under protest, you're not going to hear
the former tennis superstar griping about the long hours of rehearsals
she had to put in as a contestant on the reality TV show.  She earlier
told syndicated columnists Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith that
some parts of doing the show are not as tough as people think.

"The physical training doesn't even compare to tennis. I haven't even
broken a sweat compared to that." Instead, she explains, "the
challenge is making it look soft, and the choreography is what is
hard. My partner, Jonathan, has to go over the routines with me a
hundred times. I can't hear the beat, which is a big minus, but it is
what it is."


***


The earlier column noted that "Seles is feeling very positive these
days – having gone through difficult times after the shocking attack
she experienced in 1993, when she was stabbed during a match by a
deranged fan."

"It was not easy. There were a lot of dark days. There are still some
days that are dark," admits Seles, who's expected to publish her
memoir next year. "My wound was almost three inches deep, so that's
pretty serious. The gentlemen that stabbed me never went to jail.
There were a lot of things that made me think, 'What's going on?' When
I decided to come back after being away from the sport for two and a
half years, it was for the love of the game. Financially, I was so
secure by that point."


***


Seles continues, "I saw when my dad was passing away how quickly
things go away. I wasn't going to let someone else take away something
I love to do. I hold the power in my life," she notes. "I'm in a very,
very happy place in my life right now, and it took me a long time to
get there, but I'm proud of getting there."

Does she miss playing professionally? "No, I don't. I think I had a
great run. I tried so hard to come back for a couple of years, and for
me, the time just came where I had to face reality. Sometimes reality
is not what you want it to be, but it was great while it lasted."

Dancing with the Stars castoffs magician Penn Jillette and tennis
champion Monica Seles were the first eliminations on Dancing with the
Stars last night.

Jillette reveals, "I don't think I'll dance again."

Although Seles is no longer a contestant, she will continue to watch
the competition, commenting, "I look forward to watching the show on
my couch with a bowl of popcorn at home."

Judge Carrie Ann Inaba expresses her disappointment saying, "I would
have liked to see Monica stay. I think as a human being, she was
growing. She was learning how to move her body."

Inaba admits she's got her eye on one contestant in particular saying,
"I think it would be interesting to watch Cristian [de la Fuente]
because I think he is going to grow a lot. I feel like he's really
hungry. I'm watching him and he's got the evil eye. He really wants to
win it."

For all Dancing with the Stars news, tune in to all the latest
celebrity news, log onto here.

by Matthew Buck

With a fierce game and heart of a champion, Seles changed the way
players and fans see tennis and in doing so paved the way for the
modern greats

'If it wasn't for Monica, tennis would not be where it is today'When I
was eight years old in 1995, I first became intrigued by the game of
tennis when I watched the US Open final between Monica Seles and
Steffi Graf.

I had heard the story of Seles through my tennis-playing family, and
wanted to see first hand the power and heart of her game. And little
did I know that one of the first tennis matches I watched as a kid
would feature the most courageous and inspiring young woman with the
biggest groundstrokes and most exciting game I have ever seen.

Because I am not old enough to have seen her live in action in the
early 90s, I have had to rely on old match videos and books to learn
about Seles's early life as a tennis champion.

I still cannot believe how hard she hit the ball for her time and how
well she competed against her foes. Her results in the early 90s are
only rivalled by a few, which is remarkable since Monica had to play
against other greats such as Graf and Martina Navratilova during her
domination.

Her timing was impeccable, which allowed her to produce shots as
powerful as a man's and angles as sharp as needles. Though she lacked
the cut figure of a Navratilova, her competitive fire fuelled her to
retrieve countless shots and muscle them back deep into corners.

She won 29 titles and seven Grand Slams from 1990-1992 when she was
just a teenager, which is remarkable.

She started 1993 by winning the Australian Open, defeating Graf in a
final which gave Seles a 3-1 edge over her arch rival in Slam finals.
How many more could Seles have won if it wasn't for the attack
inflicted on her in April of that year? We will never know.

I think it is only appropriate to discuss how much she has already
achieved in her life on and off the court. Seles returned to the tour
in 1995 and won the Canadian Open with the loss of just 14 games while
scoring wins over players like Anke Huber and Gabriela Sabatini.

Who can do that after two and a half years off the tour while
struggling physically and emotionally after the assault in Hamburg?
And Seles very nearly won the US Open too, reaching the finals before
falling in the finals to Graf in three tough sets. To do that well so
soon after her comeback is just amazing.

It was too bad that Seles struggled so much with injuries throughout
the rest of her career, as her play in 1995 seemed to signal the
complete return of the Monica from the early 90s.

She did manage to win the Australian Open in 1996, showing again her
strong will with a win over Chanda Rubin in the semis after being down
5-2 in the third. But injuries plagued her through the rest of the
season, and finished the year number two behind Graf. That was the
highest year-end ranking she would reach for her remaining years on
tour, but finished in the top 10 all the way up till 2002. Her best
year was probably in 2000, when she finished number four.

One of the most inspiring events I have ever seen is when Monica
reached the final of Roland Garros in 1998. Just weeks after her
father Karolj, whom she had been so close with all her life, passed
away due to cancer, Seles showed tremendous heart and striking power
to beat Jana Novotna and Martina Hingis and reach the final.

It looked to be a fairytale tournament for Seles, but Arantxa Sanchez
Vicario surprisingly stopped her in a tough three-set final. The
Spaniard even showed her compassion when during her victory speech she
stated 'Monica, I'm sorry for beating you'. For fans, it was
heartbreaking to see their hero come so close but just fall short,
though her smile she still displayed showed how much of a true
champion she was.

Though Monica Seles does not have the statisitics of a Navratilova or
Graf, she was still the best tennis player of all time in my mind for
what she has accomplished not only on the tennis court, but off of it
as well.

If it wasn't for Monica, tennis would not be where it is today, nor
would players like Serena and Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova play
like they do today. She has changed the way players and fans perceive
the game, and arguably is the most loved players among fans ever.

Many fans of Monica just think about what she could have done on the
court if it hadn't been for the stabbing.

But, the most important thing to know is how much greatness, through
emotional breakthroughs and power tennis, Seles has achieved through
the struggle of her fall from grace and return to stardom.

And what a return it was!

Yup I totally agree and I voted a ton of times as well plus got  some others
to vote.  I just can't believe her fan base isn't bigger than  that girl from
Broadway.  I do know Monica has a lot of fans outside the  US, so that could
be a reason since perhaps many didn't even know about it or  how to vote.

I think it was horrible the judges all gave her 5's the 2nd  week after they
said she improved & looked more relaxed - just  ridiculous.  That Carrie Ann
is a wench!

Joey

Monica Seles had probably never been called for so many foot faults
in her life.

Trailing all comers on the judges' leader board, the nine-time Grand
Slam winner became one of the first to be eliminated from the sixth
season of Dancing with the Stars after her dancing debut left much
to be desired from a critical standpoint.

Tossing up tennis metaphors aplenty, judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Len
Goodman and Bruno Tonioli praised the 34-year-old athlete for
attacking the dance floor with a can-do attitude (minus the grunts,
thank goodness).

They also rightly admitted, however, that the requisite form and
technique were not there, and the nearly 40 million people who tuned
in to this season's first three performance shows apparently agreed.

Despite only earning a combined 30 for two dances in two weeks,
Seles maintained the demeanor of a champion, despite having to give
her concession speech in a skimpy gold mambo costume rather than
tennis whites.

"I'm a huge fan of dance now and I look forward to continuing,"
Seles, who returned to tennis in 1995 following a two-year absence
after she was stabbed on the court by a crazed Steffi Graf fan, said
graciously. She is currently working on a memoir due out in 2009.


Also a victim of DWTS' first-ever double elimination was Penn
Jillette, who could only maintain the illusion for so long.

Compared to Shrek when he first took the floor for a cha-cha, the
more boisterous half of the longtime Las Vegas comedy-magic act Penn
& Teller couldn't hide his lack of grace with smoke and mirrors.

"I want to be clear, we are not giving up," the 6-foot-6-inch 52-
year-old assured the audience, pointing to partner Kym
Johnson. "We're going to rehearse all week and we will be back there
[performing] in the parking lot."


But even though two had to go, DWTS finally managed to assemble this
season 12 contestants who, if not all equally talented, at least
looked as if they were happy to be there and were willing to give it
the old school try.

So, while Jillette may have figuratively stunk, he literally danced
circles around past why-bother contestants such as Clyde Drexler and
Master P.

As did Adam Carolla, safe for another week despite a really rough
showing with the judges, who were especially hard on the former Man
Show host last week after what seemed to be a perfectly respectable
beginners' foxtrot.

"You've got your work cut out for you," Goodman commented to
reigning two-time champion Julianne Hough, who choreographed a mambo
this week that at least got the judges laughing.

And you certainly can't accuse Steve Guttenberg of not wanting to be
there. The bizarrely enthusiastic actor may have only scored a
combined 34 (tied for third-lowest with Carolla), but, hey, to this
Police Academy star, "The best thing about this show is, it makes
the world a better place."

Ultimately, it was Chilean actor Cristián de la Fuente who narrowly
avoided the firing squad.

The Latin heartthrob will have to kick it up a notch if he wants to
compete against this season's male frontrunners, R&B singer Mario
and Miami Dolphins linebacker Jason Taylor, both of whom dance as if
they've been peppering their workouts with panache all along.

But despite the obvious appeal coming from that corner, the guys
still have to get past ice queen Kristi Yamaguchi, who scored the
series' first week-one 27 on her foxtrot and then equaled that total
with Monday's mambo.

All deserved praise aside, however, is anyone particularly surprised
that the Olympic gold-medalist figure skater is a great dancer?

Also in the mix is American Pie hottie Shannon Elizabeth, who
already has improved from one week to the next (with an honorable
mention going to her flowing silver quickstep outfit for Best
Performance by a Gown), and, very interestingly, Priscilla Presley,
who tied Elizabeth for fifth place with a 45.

At 62 years old, the Naked Gun star and former queen to The King is
beyond impressive and has already surpassed Jane Seymour, 57, as the
competition's most talented competitor "of a certain age."

And then there's fourth-place Marlee Matlin, who likewise has easily
topped Heather Mills in the can-barely-believe-your eyes category.
The Oscar-winning actress, deaf since she was a baby, earned a 22 on
her cha-cha with first-time DWTS pro Fabian Sanchez and then only a
heavy dash of mambo in their quickstep prevented her from earning
higher than a 24 on Monday's performance show.

"I'm blown away by your musicality," Inaba raved. "I think you've
got the potential to go a long way in this competition," Goodman
added.

Still with a long way to go is Tony Award winner Marissa Jaret
Winokur, who suffered from some so-so choreography on partner Tony
Dovolani's part in week one but then rebounded with a spry quickstep
last night, good enough for a combined 39 from both dances.

The inaugural elimination of the season also featured a performance
by the fraternal rockers the Jonas Brothers, while Australian pop
star Kylie Minogue is the scheduled musical guest for next week,
when the show returns to its usual format of one ouster at a time.

The results are in for "Dancing With The Stars" and to be honest
we're not that surprised. Magician Penn Jillette can entertain shows
in Las Vegas but has a little trouble entertaining with his dancing.
The magician was kicked off the show faster than some of his magic
tricks.

Don't feel too sorry for Penn, he says he's not quitting dancing.
There's no way my dance career ends now".

On the girl's side, tennis champ Monica Seles wasn't able to
transcend her talents from the tennis court to the ballroom. The
nine-time champ announced before she got booted, "I'm not used to
losing".

The show's first double-elimination round also featured a Cirque du
Soleil-style acrobatic dance performance and two live songs by the
Jonas Brothers. The pop-rock group played the 1985 hit "Take On Me"
and their new hit music "When You Look Me in the Eyes."

In the meantime here is the list of the remaining contestants Jason
Taylor, Adam Carolla, Marlee Matlin Olympic skater Kristi Yamaguchi,
R&B singer Mario, and actors Steve Guttenberg, Shannon Elizabeth,
Christian de la Fuente, Marlee Matlin, Priscilla Presley and Marissa
Jaret Winokur.

Speaking of contestants, how hot is the Chilean actor Christian de
la Fuente? We're hoping he makes it to the finals just so we can see
him shake his hot booty on the dance floor. Muy Caliente!

Well, that's it.  I voted for her the 24 times max allowed yesterday
on land phone, cell phone and on web.  So did my mom.  I am saddened
that she couldn't mobilize her fan base.  I mean sure she would
improve if she could stay but we shall never know now.  I bet it's fixed.

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - March 19, 2008) - Tennis icon Monica Seles
has sold her memoir to Avery, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA). The
untitled project is scheduled for publication in March 2009. The
auction for world rights was conducted by Dana Beck at Bill Adler Books.

In this inspiring and revealing memoir, Seles will explore her
remarkable journey of brilliant tennis, fame, tragedy, loss and
self-discovery. After years of having every aspect of her training,
diet and life dictated and scrutinized by others, Monica took control,
deciding what she wanted from life and set out to obtain it. Cutting
through the fog of sadness, fear and frustration that made Seles
overweight and unhappy, today she looks and feels better than ever and
has created a life in balance.

Seles said, "On February 14th, I officially retired from professional
tennis, closing one chapter of my life. I'm now opening a new chapter
where I hope to share how I found balance, strength and happiness in
my life after a rollercoaster ride of exhilarating accomplishment and
sometimes overwhelming tragedy. Avery is giving me the opportunity to
put this journey in words, and I'm thrilled to be working with them."

Megan Newman, Publisher at Avery, said, "Avery is delighted to be
publishing Monica Seles' book. Her remarkable, uplifting story is one
that will resonate with readers -- those who were fans during her
illustrious tennis career and those who will meet her for the first
time. It is an honor to be working with such a talented athlete and
promising author."

John Steele, Senior Vice President at IMG, who represents Seles in her
non-tennis activities, added, "Since Monica won the French Open at age
16, she has been living in the public spotlight but she has never
really discussed the struggles that went along with all the victories.
It will be both a remarkable read and a motivating story of finding
health and happiness."

About the Author

Earlier this year, Seles, 34, announced her retirement from
professional tennis. Over her extraordinary career, she earned nine
Grand Slam titles and won 53 singles and six doubles tournaments. She
first became No. 1 in the world in March 1991. Seles was No. 1 for 178
weeks during the next two years -- the youngest No. 1 ever at the time
-- until tragedy struck in April 1993, when she was stabbed in the
back by a deranged fan during a match in Hamburg, Germany. She was not
able to play again for more than two years. When she did return, she
won even more hearts with her comeback win at the Canadian Open, and
then reached the U.S. Open final the following month. Remarkably, she
then won her ninth Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January
1996. Seles joined the cast of the sixth season of ABC's hit "Dancing
with the Stars" in 2008.

Having sacrificed her dignity in return for some prime-time exposure,
Monica Seles has been calling on her old tennis opponents to vote for
her, writes Eleanor Preston

The women's locker room of the Pacific Life Open has been plastered
with posters this week, all demanding votes and imploring them to take
an interest in a contest which could grip the nation. There is not a
picture of Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama in sight, though. Former
world No1 Monica Seles is appearing on Dancing With the Stars, and is
shamelessly touting for support among her former colleagues.

"I sent her an email today wishing her good luck, and there's signs in
the locker room for all the players to vote for her and watch," said
her old mate Lindsay Davenport, who had Seles as one of her
bridesmaids at her wedding. "I swear, she's so great, she's so
courageous, I can't wait to see her."

Davenport was due on court on Monday night when Seles became the
latest former tennis player to sacrifice dignity at the altar of
prime-time television, although she left strict instructions that it
be recorded. It's a path Greg Rusedski has already been down - in
ice-skates, no less - and it has the potential to turn a nine-time
grand slam champion like Seles into a laughing stock at a quickstep.

Davenport, however, has faith that the competitive spirit which saw
Seles briefly dominate the women's game in the early nineties will
help her emulate the likes of Rachel Hunter, Scary Spice and even
Heather Mills in having a successful run on the US prime-time show.

"I think she's going to make a run deep. I think she's going to go at
least in the final four, final five and see who she gets up against,"
said Davenport, applying surprisingly earnest analysis considering she
was talking about a show which involves celebrities donning Lycra and
trying to keep up with the professional dancers they are paired with.
"I think just with the mindset of an athlete, knowing what needs to be
done, I'm sure she's worked her butt off for six months or whatever.
She has that kind of mentality."

Seles officially retired in February of this year, but had not played
since 2003 and has thus had plenty of time to practice her foxtrot.
All that remains to be seen now is whether that famous grunt of hers
is going to make a return when she takes to the floor.

Who's Seles up against?

Adam Carolla - comedian and radio host
Cristian de la Fuente - actor
Shannon Elizabeth - actress
Steve Guttenberg - actor
Mario - R&B singer
Marlee Matlin - actress
Penn Jillette - magician
Priscilla Presley - actress, producer and entrepeneur
Jason Taylor - NFL man of the year
Marissa Jaret Winokur - Broadway star
Kristi Yamaguchi - Olympic figure skater

March 18, 2008 (Sawf News) - Tennis champ Monica Seles, voted the
greatest player of all time by Tennis Magazine, has taken up a new
challenge with ABC's sixth season of Dancing With The Stars.

Dancing With The Stars waltzed back on to US TV, Monday, March 18,
with R&B star Mario setting the early standard with a sizzling cha-cha.

However, most of the novices had to take a savaging from the judges.
Actor Steve Guttenberg, magician Penn Jillette and DJ Adam Corolla all
failed to reach the 20-point mark.

Seles has teamed up with Jonathan Roberts, who returns for his fifth
season. Jonathan finished in third place last season alongside partner
Marie Osmond.

Seles and Jonathan will compete against Priscilla Presley, Marlee
Matlin, Jason Taylor, Kristi Yamaguchi, Adam Carolla (Comedy Central's
The Man Show) Cristian de la Fuente, Shannon Elizabeth, Steve
Guttenberg, R&B superstar Mario, Penn Jillette and Marissa Jaret Winokur.

Monica Seles, 34, is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player.
She was born in the erstwhile Yugoslavia and took US citizenship in
1994. She won nine Grand Slam singles titles. At age 16, she was the
youngest-ever champion at the French Open (1990).

In 1993, Monica was forced out of the sport for two years following an
on-court knife stabbing at the back by a spectator in Germany. She
returned to the game in 1995. She won a singles title at the
Australian Open in 1996, but could not reproduce her former charisma
on the court.

Her last professional match was 2003 French Open. In February 2008 she
announced her official retirement from Tennis.

Yeah Evan, I totally agree but that nagging foot problem kept her from  being
consistant.  Let's also not forget the migrane problem, which is  hardly ever
mentioned.

Joey



**************Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. Watch the video on AOL
Home.
(http://home.aol.com/diy/home-improvement-eric-stromer?video=15?ncid=aolhom00030\
000000001)


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

wow! Monica looks so fit, thin, lanky etc...
I wish she were as fit when she was still competing in the grand slams

Evan



----- Original Message ----
From: "monicaseles@yahoogroups.com" <monicaseles@yahoogroups.com>
To: monicaseles@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, March 21, 2008 2:38:56 AM
Subject: [Monica Seles On-line] Digest Number 964

Monica Seles On-line Yahoo! Group
Messages In This Digest (2 Messages)
1. Monica on DWTS From: JOEYDEC21@...
2. VOTE for Monica Next Week!!! From: Tommy
View All Topics | Create New Topic Messages
1. Monica on DWTS
Posted by: "JOEYDEC21@..." JOEYDEC21@...   joeyceline21
Wed Mar 19, 2008 7:10 pm (PDT)
Tonight was Monica's debut on Dancing With The Stars and her scores from the
3 judges were NOT good, in fact she's in last place. It's important for
everyone to register at _www.abc.com_ (http://www.abc. com) and vote for her -
you're allowed 5 online votes and 5 votes per phone line. So anyone in the US
& Canada watching each week should vote during the show and online up until
the next day.

Joey

************ **Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. Watch the video on AOL
Home.
(http://home. aol.com/diy/ home-improvement -eric-stromer? video=15?
ncid=aolhom00030 000000001)

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Messages in this topic (1)
2. VOTE for Monica Next Week!!!
Posted by: "Tommy" boyzone2000s@...   boyzone2000s
Wed Mar 19, 2008 7:11 pm (PDT)
People,

If you want to see more of Moncia, you MUST vote for her next week at
Dancing with the Star or she is history! She got the lowest score
last night, deservedly so, unfortunately, and I don't dislike any of
the other contestants but somebody has to go, and let's help Monica
cos she is NOT looking good. Okay, I lie, I can't get past the masked
woman, aka Priscilla Presley, she is freaking me out with that
mannequin face. Next week, I heard is a latin dance. Not good. It's
like she lost 6-0 first set, down a break in second... very perilous.


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Yup, I agree,  If she's gonna stay on the show it's gotta  be her fan base
that keeps her there until she can improve enough to impress the  judges and get
new fans by showing more of her personality and that infectious  giggle she
has.  i voted all I could this week and will again.  I  really don't think the
judges were fair tho - c'mon all 5s???  They said  nice things and then 5's.
The girl from Hairspray got a better score and  the judges didn't have many
nice things to say about her performance.



**************Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. Watch the video on AOL
Home.
(http://home.aol.com/diy/home-improvement-eric-stromer?video=15?ncid=aolhom00030\
000000001)


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

People,

If you want to see more of Moncia, you MUST vote for her next week at
Dancing with the Star or she is history!  She got the lowest score
last night, deservedly so, unfortunately, and I don't dislike any of
the other contestants but somebody has to go, and let's help Monica
cos she is NOT looking good.  Okay, I lie, I can't get past the masked
woman, aka Priscilla Presley, she is freaking me out with that
mannequin face.  Next week, I heard is a latin dance.  Not good.  It's
like she lost 6-0 first set, down a break in second... very perilous.

Tonight was Monica's debut on Dancing With The Stars and her  scores from the
3 judges were NOT good, in fact she's in last place.  It's  important for
everyone to register at _www.abc.com_ (http://www.abc.com)  and vote for her -
you're  allowed 5 online votes and 5 votes per phone line.  So anyone in the US
  & Canada watching each week should vote during the show and online up until
the next day.

Joey



**************Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. Watch the video on AOL
Home.
(http://home.aol.com/diy/home-improvement-eric-stromer?video=15?ncid=aolhom00030\
000000001)


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

Here is an interview with Monica from 1993 - four months after the
Stabbing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMD1ef2lK_0 (Part 1: 10 minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJyAEVxrzpQ (Part 2: 4 minutes)

It's an 'unputdownable' video, although it does reopen old wounds.
Monica talks about her plans for a comeback (she hadn't even hit a
ball since the Stabbing), and that she's upset that her fellow
players voted not to freeze her #1 ranking until she came back.

Monica looks so young and cute in the video, and it's very moving to
see how traumatised she is, despite putting on a brave face for the
interview.

It's a video that everyone should watch.

--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/seles/

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

Dubai is raging and everyone is wondering what's happening with
Federer and we'll get back to that, but I wanted to post this guest
commentary on my column about Monica Seles. Michael Klarner, who
lives in Germany, is our writer and he has a background in history
as well as an appreciation for tennis history. I think you'll enjoy
his comments. You can also see his unique video diary here.

My thoughts broke out of me because one finds all these speculations
about the rivalry of Graf and Seles so often… What would have been
if….

It's nice to speculate but it's amazing that these people very often
think so statistically. They kind of freeze the three years when
Seles dominated and project these circumstances towards an imagined
future. This way, Seles becomes a pure ideal projection. But in my
experience that's not how real life goes.

I am really passionate about tennis as a sport. I also started my
passion with being a fan of some specific players. Then my
perspective shifted towards tennis in a historical perspective…
towards a longer perspective - besides the passion for the current
moment. My interest shifted also towards all these great players we
never saw playing (such as Suzanne Lenglen, Helen Wills Moody and
many others) who were also considered as being the greatest ever (in
their period).

I am a historian by profession and a historian learns that we have
to understand specific phenomena of a specific period by the framing
conditions. It's difficult to compare and to speculate because there
are always so many additional factors.

In the case of the Seles-adoration, very often all the other factors
are excluded - even if these factors are so obvious! For example,
Seles had some great periods in her second career but she was
injured almost permanently. I remember that some tennis experts
predicted very early that Seles' double handed game could result in
a lot of injuries and physical burn out. Why? They argued that the
double-double handed player always had to go one additional step on
both sides of the court. This worked well with Graf because Graf
could not make the game fast on her backhand side. But it was a
disadvantage with other players playing the same style but one
handed.

In my opinion, this was also one of the reasons why Seles did not
play that successfully on the young hard hitters. These players were
strong on both sides and they had to go one step less in order to
cover the court.
People are so quick in stating this or that player would have been
the best ever. They see them playing a specific moment and they are
passionate about what these players brought to the game. I was
always asking myself: How can they do this if they never saw the
great champions of the past? Most of them even don't even know their
names. So I asked myself: how can someone compare players of
distinct periods by only counting what they won, by comparing only
statistics?

If one reads the reports about the time when Suzanne Lenglen and
Helen Wills Moody met, one will discover one of the greatest
rivalries in sports history!

Moreover, I don't like the fact that people forget so easily how
dominant Graf had been from 1988-1991. Nina writes in her column
that Seles dominated as Federer did today. But Graf did even more
so! I remember when Graf came up, she broke into the circuit like an
orca. The other players were afraid of Graf's forehand and
journalists counted her dominance by the minutes she needed to win a
match. In 1988 and 1989, Graf lost only three and two matches all
year. Not to mention, she won a Golden Slam - and lost only two sets
in 4 Majors.

Not only Seles but also Graf revolutionized the game. If one has a
look at the Wimbledon matches between Navratilova and Graf in 1988
(look on youtube), one will see a quality which we don't see even
today. At this time, Graf hit an amazing topspin backhand - because
she had to! She went to the net - because she had to!

In the longer perspective, we find the real interesting and dramatic
things: how rivalries change the players and their way of playing.
How great champions are challenged and forced to adapt. The best
example is the competition between Evert and Navratilova. Both say
that this rivalry forced them to reach new levels of their game.

I personally think that this is the saddest part of the Seles-Graf
story. As Pam Shriver put it: the public lost the rivalry of a
period. And neither player was forced to improve and to reach the
best that they would have been able to give to the game.

I believe that the all-time-greatest players (Seles is one of them)
would have been able to succeed in all periods and under all
possible conditions because they had the talent and the willpower to
adapt their game to each possible challenge.