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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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