KEY BISCAYNE – Her weight down and her spirits up, Monica Seles said Tuesday her plan to get back on tour following a one-year injury layoff will begin in Strasbourg, France (May 17-23), and then immediately to the French Open.
But, she cautioned, everything depends on her fitness level. “If I’m not ready by the French Open, I’ll keep working until I am,” she said.
Seles, 30, hasn’t played a match since losing to Nadia Petrova in the first round at Roland Garros in 2003.
It’s been a long time since she looked this slim, though she couldn’t say how much weight she has lost.
“I never get on the scale,” she said. But she went on to say that her doctor has told her if she wants to play tournament tennis again she must reduce the amount of weight on her left foot.
She has been practicing one and a half hours a day with her brother Zoltan. Seles said when she’s hitting the ball better she might be ready for one of her favorite sparring mates, former ATP pro Jimmy Arias.
The holder of nine Grand Slam titles, Seles probably won’t get a 10th. But she wants to play because of her attachment to tennis.
“I love the purity of this game,” said Seles, who has played Key Biscayne nine times with two titles (1990 and ’91).