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Monica Seles aims for comeback in 2006
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-12-14 11:03
NEW YORK - Monica Seles said if she doesn't get back on the tennis court by
the end of 2006, she may hang up her racket.
 Seles, a nine-time Grand Slam winner, attended a Manhattan luncheon in her
honor Tuesday at a restaurant owned by actor Robert De Niro. She's joining the
Laureus World Sports Academy, which brings sports and social programs to
underprivileged youth around the world.
It may prove to be a transition into another career. Seles never officially
retired, but last played a Grand Slam tournament in 2003. A broken bone in the
ball of her right foot has hampered her return.
"I'm still training and still trying, but at the same time I'm realistic,"
Seles said. "After 2006, if not, then it's pretty sure. You have to move on."
Seles, a dominant player known for her loud grunts when hitting the ball, won
three Grand Slam tournaments in both 1991 and 1992. Her meteoric rise was
interrupted in 1993 when she was stabbed in the back by an obsessed fan of
Steffi Graf at a tournament in Hamburg, Germany. Seles was ranked No. 1 at the
time.
"I had a very unusual career, to say the least," she said. "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."
The 32-year-old put no timeline on a return in 2006.
"My game is not at the level that I personally feel comfortable playing
against the girls," she said. "It's my foot, it's giving me not as much time to
train, to put in my many hours. The consistency is just not there."
So what's her level of play now?
"It's OK," she said, laughing. "If it were good, I wouldn't be here. I'd be
training."
Seles is encouraged by Martina Hingis' expected return to tennis in January
after a three-year retirement because of injuries.
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