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This is an archive article published on June 28, 2007

Remember Seles? Watch out for her match-up with Martina

Where is Monica Seles? The fighter, whose inherent spirit saw her rise from the strife-torn Yugoslav town of Sarasota to the top of world tennis and then survive a near-fatal attack...

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Where is Monica Seles? The fighter, whose inherent spirit saw her rise from the strife-torn Yugoslav town of Sarasota to the top of world tennis and then survive a near-fatal attack by a demented fan of her main rival Steffi Graf, has not really been seen in competitive action since she hobbled out of the first round of the French Open, losing to Nadia Petrova in 2003.

Promises of a comeback has not really materialised, but Seles will again draw tennis fans to the court, when she takes on her compatriot Martina Navratilova, the grand old dame of tennis, for an exhibition match to be played in New Orleans on September 14. Seles won 10 of her 17 meetings with Navratilova in competitive tennis.

And the match will be followed by a concert by Theresa Andersson.

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The two may be from two different generations of tennis players, but they share a history, a story of a life in erstwhile Yugoslavia where much of what they achieved later could only be dreamt of.

Seles has not really been in the public eye ever since that fateful day at Ronald Garros, when for the first time in her brilliant career, she failed to get past the first round in a Grand Slam.

Seles never retired officially, but the stress fracture she suffered from did not really allow her to make a comeback to competitive tennis. And by and large, the Florida resident has kept herself away from the limelight, occasionally emerging to take part in exhibition matches and some World Team Tennis ties. She didn’t even take to commentary, which many of former tennis stars have done with elan.

Seles had almost revolutionised the women’s game with her bold baseline game full of power.

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She was the world No 1 in 1991-92 and would have perhaps ruled for a longer period had she not been stabbed in 1993 by Gunter Parche, a man who was so obsessed with Steffi Graf that he thought he needed to get Seles out of her way.

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