Tennis: Seles still tempted to give it one last go

Steffi Graf retired in August 1999. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario walked away from tennis three years ago this month and Martina Hingis has also built a life outside tennis.

Another former world No 1, queen of the courts in the early 1990s, has not played since a crushing defeat in the first round of the 2003 French Open, yet Monica Seles still refuses to call it quits.

Friends of the nine-times grand slam champion are not sure whether Seles, now 31, can return to the circuit but they are still hoping she will be able to give it one last go.

Former Fed Cup team-mate Lindsay Davenport saw little chance of the Yugoslav-born American making a comeback.

"I think she's done," Davenport says. "I think she's loved her last year and won't go out there and play unless she's the good Monica that everyone's used to. I'd put a comeback at five per cent."

Before her loss to Nadia Petrova at the 2003 French Open, Seles had suffered injuries in her feet for six years. She chose not to undergo surgery and was hoping that her stress fractures would heal naturally.

In 2004 she was able to compete in World Team Tennis but was blown away by players she would have beaten easily in her prime.

This year, she played a couple of exhibitions early in the year but was not fit enough to attempt a return to the regular tour, as the much younger Hingis did in February.

Hingis, whose retirement was also caused by foot problems, played in the Thailand Open and lost her first match. She does not intend to repeat the experience.

In September, Seles told the New York Times her left foot had all but healed, but still occasionally hurt.

She added that she was playing four to five days a week but she would not commit to when she would attempt a return. "When I left, I was in the top 10 and I want to be able to compete at that level. I couldn't do it any other way."

Seles, No 1 for 178 weeks, will turn 32 in December. A woman's player of 30 years or older has not won a grand slam singles since Navratilova won Wimbledon in 1990 aged 33.

"I'd say it's improbable, but possible," said Seles' former coach, Michael Sell. "When she sees players like Anastasia Myskina and Svetlana Kuznetsova winning grand slams, she feels like she can beat those types of player regularly. So I'm sure she's still tempted."

- REUTERS