Here are two articles updating us on Monica's progress:
1. Monica intends to return, but is not "tournament-ready" - so she
won't play Miami.
2. The cast is off her left foot, and she'll play the exhibition on
Monday 22nd March! :-)


Article 1. From The Miami Herald:
>>>
Seles intent on returning
BY MICHELLE KAUFMAN
mkaufman@...
Posted on Thu, Mar. 11, 2004

It depresses Monica Seles to look at the world rankings these days,
so she chooses not to look. She has plummeted from No. 6 to No. 224
since fracturing her left foot last year, and the dreaded ''R''
word -- retirement -- keeps cropping up every time she does an
interview.

But Seles insists she has every intention of returning to the tour.
The only question is when.

She was hoping to come back in time for the NASDAQ-100 Open in Key
Biscayne, March 24-April 4 but now says that won't be possible. She
remains in a soft cast, had a sixth MRI last week, and if all goes
well, she will play an exhibition against Martina Navrátilová in
Richmond, Va., later this month.

''I left sixth in the world, and I wouldn't want to come back too
early,'' Seles said in a phone interview last week. ``I won't be
tournament ready for Miami.''

Asked why she keeps toiling, why she wouldn't hang it up after all
she has been through and all the money she piled up over the years
($15 million in winnings), Seles replied: My love for the game.
That's what keeps me going. As long as my body still allows me to
play at this level, I will play. When that time comes that I can't,
I will still play recreationally.''

Seles suggested the rash of injuries on the women's tour might be a
result of an overcrowded schedule.

Serena Williams has not played since injuring her knee over the
summer. Venus Williams just returned after not playing since last
summer. Jennifer Capriati and Amélie Mauresmo are missing Indian
Wells, Calif., this week with back injuries. Belgians Kim Clijsters
and Justine Henin-Hardenne have also battled nagging injuries.

''We have no offseason,'' Seles said. ``Consider that we've been
doing this since we're 14 or 15 years old, taking maybe a week off
the entire year. Unlike other sports, we are traveling to different
countries, different climates, faraway places, playing on different
surfaces. It puts a lot of wear and tear on you, and I'm paying for
it now.''

Seles has been at it since 1989. She reigned over women's tennis in
the early 1990s, finishing at No. 1 in 1991 and 1992.

In April 1993, when a crazed Steffi Graf fan stabbed Seles in the
back during a match at Hamburg, Germany, she had won seven of the
eight previous majors -- a feat that has gone unmatched.

Her battle back from that tragedy was well-documented, but what most
people didn't know is that Seles was also saddled with severe
migraine headaches that went undiagnosed until 1997.

''My fans never realized I was a sufferer, but I really struggled
with migraines from the time I was 15,'' Seles said. ``It was so bad
that I'd have to sit in a dark room with my eyes closed before
matches. The bright light would kill me, especially those 12 o'clock
matches. When I finally got on Imitrex [medication], it was like a
cloud lifted off my shoulders.''

Seles was so grateful to find relief that she has become a
spokeswoman for the medicine and for migraine headache research.

© 2004 The Miami Herald and wire service sources. All Rights
Reserved.
<<<
[Source:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/tennis/8156825.htm ]


Article 2. From timesdispatch.com:
>>>
Seles navigating comeback trail
Siegel Center visit for exhibition is part of star's rehabilitation
BY JOHN PACKETT
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Sunday, March 14, 2004


SELES VS. NAVRÁTILOVÁ
TENNIS EXHIBITION
WHEN:
March 22, 7:30 p.m. WHERE:
VCU's Siegel Center

So far, so good for Monica Seles.

The former No. 1 player in the world says her recovery from a foot
injury that sidelined her much of last year is coming along nicely.
Seles had the soft cast removed from her left foot more than two
weeks ago and has been working hard since.

"I had been doing a lot of rehabbing with the cast on, but this is
much better," Seles said. "I tape it very well and go to therapy
every day. No problems. I'm very happy about the way things are
going. It was a very frustrating injury, and I'm glad to have it
behind me."

Seles didn't have surgery but opted to allow the broken bone to heal
on its own.

"I can't go my usual five or six hours yet," she said. "I'm starting
very slowly. Hitting a lot of shots. Just repetition and moving
around the court."

Seles' exhibition with Martina Navrátilová a week from tomorrow at
the Siegel Center will be the first real test of her foot in a
competitive atmosphere. The best-of-three sets match is scheduled to
begin at 7:30 p.m. and follow a mixed doubles match involving local
pros.

"We'll see how it holds up under match conditions," said Seles, 30,
and the winner of nine major titles.

Seles is hoping to return to the circuit later this year, assuming
the foot doesn't bother her.

"I want to see how it goes for the next few weeks and how I feel,"
she said. "The doctor wants me to take it slowly because he knows I
have a problem where I want to do everything immediately. He wants
me to be as patient as I can.

"Ideally, I'd like to start back during the clay-court season, but
I'll have to see how I play. It won't be an easy road back."

So even though this will be an exhibition, it means a lot to Seles
and her comeback hopes.

"Any match is a big match for an athlete," she said. "As anyone who
knows me from playing on my court at my house, it is because I'm so
competitive. But in terms of seeing where my game is, how my foot
holds up afterward, it's definitely going to be big test.

"Then I still have more practices ahead of me before I can return to
the daily grind of the tour, which is different from playing one
match."

For the moment, Seles is elated to have the chance to trade ground
strokes with something other than a ball machine.

"I'm just very excited that I can even play," she said. "For a long
time, I wasn't sure about that. My first hurdle has been cleared and
for me, mentally, something good has finally happened after waiting
for such a long time."


Contact John Packett at (804) 649-6313 or jpackett@...

This story can be found at:
http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%
2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031774283876&path=%
21sports&s=1045855934844
<<<

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