A trip to Australia in January for Monica Seles usually would involve playing in the Australian Open. But this year, she’s about an hour’s flight away in Sydney announcing plans to play in an exhibition tournament.
A foot injury has kept the former world No. 1 out of competitive tennis since the 2003 French Open, but Seles said Friday that she’s considering a comeback.
“I’ve been getting (retirement questions) for the last few years,” said Seles, who won her first Grand Slam single title when she was 16 and went on to win 53 career titles, including four Australian Opens.
The 31-year-old Seles will join Martina Navratilova to play two exhibition matches in New Zealand in February. She said that barring injury, she hopes to play on from there.
“I know I want to play tennis as long as my body allows it to, both recreationally and professionally,” Seles said.
On Friday, Seles played with Australians Ken Rosewall and Peter McNamara and Sweden’s Mats Wilander in a legends game at the Sydney Opera House.