This was Monica's first tournament in four weeks, having not played
Fed Cup, nor Warszawa, and of course she boycotted the German Open.

Perhaps her lack of match-play contributed to her dropping the first
set of her first-round match against 17-year-old Myriam Casanova on
Tuesday. Monica was broken in the first game, and spurned two
break-points as Casanova took the first set 6-4 in 36 minutes.

But Monica stormed through the second and third sets for a 4-6 6-2 6-3
win. Casanova wilted in the blazing sun, but Monica doesn't mind
playing in extreme heat, having lived in Florida since 1986!

"It was really hard fought," said Monica, who won the Italian Open in
1990 and 2000. "She just came out and was hitting the ball very hard.
It took me awhile to adjust to that. I've really got some amazing fans
here. They've been with me since 1990."

1r photos:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030513/161/41tte.html
(serve)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030513/168/41pyu.html
(sliced backhand!)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030513/170/41pdn.html
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030513/168/41nny.html
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030513/168/41o4x.html
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030513/168/41pl1.html
(flowers)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030513/168/41o34.html
(fans)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030513/241/41pda.html
(interview)
http://www.sanexwta.com/assets/story_image/SelesTVct051303.jpg


Sadly, Monica had to retire with a foot-injury in the second round on
Wednesday (the fifth anniversary of her father's death) when she was
trailing Nadia Petrova 3-6 1-4. She had already pulled out of the
doubles because of such (Monica rarely plays doubles anyway - she must
have been trying to get extra match-play before the French Open).

Monica made a host of unforced errors against Petrova, losing the
first set in 28 minutes before retiring at 1-4 in the second.

2r photos:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030514/161/425my.html
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030514/241/426bn.html
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030514/168/424e7.html
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030514/241/425z4.html

"The problem comes and goes. I could wake up in three days' time and
feel no problem at all. I missed my doubles match as a precaution, but
I still felt it and I can't run at a level I need to run at."

I assume it is a recurrence of the stress-fracture that has been
troubling Monica for the last three years. With the French Open and
Wimbledon just around the corner, it's very worrying that it could
flare up at any time. It also puts her participation at the French
Open in doubt.

"We'll just see how it goes in the next ten days. I'm going to try a
new treatment with a laser. I want to do everything possible to try to
play the French."

Then Monica said something alarming:

"It's a stress fracture and I don't want surgery. I would be out for
nine months. That's too long a time to be out of tennis. If it can get
better, I'll take a little bit more time off. If it's not, then I have
to make a decision to stop."

Please don't retire!!! I lost Monica in 1993; the thought of losing
her again in 2003 is unbearable. If it can't get better, I hope Monica
would have the surgery and the long break, but would refuse to give up
her tennis-career like Karina Habsudova, who has been out since the
Australian Open 2002 with a ruptured Achilles tendon (Karina is four
months older than Monica) but still entertains the possibility of a
comeback.

--
Andrew Broad
http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~broada/
http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~broada/tennis/
http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~broada/tennis/seles/