WINNIPEG (CP) - One remains near the top of her game, the other still struggling to rise through the ranks, but two of tennis' top female stars say it's a pleasure to play exhibition games that raise the profile of their sport. "To make people aware of tennis everywhere, that's cool," said Anna Kournikova, currently ranked 35th in the world.

"It's great to come to an area like Winnipeg where really they don't see much women's tennis and do something for the kids and hopefully inspire them to pick up the sport," said Monica Seles, the seventh ranked player.

"They usually get to see us on TV and it's so different (live). You realize how much harder the ball is being hit."

Kournikova defeated Seles 6-4, 7-5 in an exhibition match Sunday at the Winnipeg Arena.

Exhibition tennis isn't quite the dog-eat-dog world of the money game so Kournikova's victory was only fair. The night before, Seles defeated her rival 7-6, 6-4 before a larger crowd of 9,244 in St. Paul, Minn.

The Winnipeg event generated plenty of hype during the last three months, although advance ticket sales were just over the break-even point of around 4,000, although another 1,000 or more showed up Sunday.

One Winnipeg newspaper even ran a Kournikova look-alike contest, which was won by a local bartender who did have a striking resemblance to the current glamour queen of pro tennis.

It wasn't exactly a champagne and strawberries crowd at the Winnipeg Arena Sunday, more hot dogs and beer.

But then the Winnipeg Arena, home of the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League, is a far cry from Wimbledon.

"I don't think I've sat through a whole match (on TV) and I thought if I saw it live I'd have a greater appreciation of it," said Sean Gray, 23, who paid $110 for two tickets.

"When's the next opportunity I'm going to get to see that calibre?"

He said he's pretty bad at the game but might even give tennis another try himself next summer.

The temporary tennis court was supplied by Toronto-based Tennex Systems Inc. It was a centimetre-thick rubber court that was laid over plywood which covered the ice surface in the arena.

The event promoter said it's the first professional tennis match in the city since Boris Becker played Kevin Curren in 1987.

At a brief news conference before they played, Kournikova dodged any questions about her personal life.

"I'm here to play," she said.

"Maybe I can get a boyfriend here," she added with a smile.

Kournikova, a former junior champ, suggested her No. 35 ranking isn't bad, "considering I started the year at 99 after being off for eight months."

"There's still four weeks to go but hopefully, I'll stay healthy."Break

Unlike Kournikova, Seles soon dominated the women's tennis world when she made the jump from junior ranks, until she was stabbed in the back by a crazed fan of Steffi Graf while playing in Germany in 1993. She returned to the game in 1995.

This year, the 29-year-old has two tournament titles and an overall record of 46-13 compared with Kournikova's 28-24. Seles' best season since her return was 2000, when she finished ranked 4th in the world.

The warm-up acts Sunday included a match between Canadian pros Vanessa Webb and Sonya Jeyaseelan, who then paired with Seles and Kournikova in a doubles match.

The opportunities for exhibition games are few and far between. Some, such as the Williams sisters who currently dominate women's tennis, refuse to play them.

For those willing, top players are barred from exhibitions during the 35 weeks of the year there are either Grand Slam, Tier one or Tier two tournaments. There are also restrictions on exhibitions in cities that host big-name events.

Both women live in Florida and said their knowledge of Winnipeg consisted of the Winnipeg Jets - now the Phoenix Coyotes - and Winnie the Pooh.

Kournikova, 21, a Moscow native, also said she had hoped to see some snow on her visit north. "This year I didn't get to see snow yet and I was hoping to see it here but I guess I won't."

Winnipeg is unseasonably warm and there isn't enough white stuff in town to make a decent snowball.

ST. PAUL, Minn. - The fact that Anna Kournikova has achieved widespread fame without winning a single tournament causes resentment among many players on the women's tour.

Monica Seles isn't one of them.

After beating Kournikova 7-6 (7-6), 6-4 Saturday night in the Minnesota Tennis Challenge, Seles scoffed at the suggestion that there's any animosity toward the 21-year-old Russian, whose known more for her beauty than her forehand.

"I don't think there's animosity. My gosh, that's a strong word to use," Seles said after the exhibition match. "She's dedicated her life to this sport. She's one of the hardest workers on tour."

And if Kournikova's fame is based on a pretty face, not a French Open or a Wimbledon title?

"It's understandable," said Seles. "But she's a gorgeous girl. What can she do about that? She can't just hide her face."

Seles pointed out that Kournikova was ranked as high as eighth in May 2001 before an ankle injury slowed her down. Now 35th in the WTA rankings, Kournikova is getting ready for the 2003 season. She hasn't won a Grand Slam singles match since the 2001 Australian Open.

Her goal?

"To stay healthy, go back and try to play a full season this time," Kournikova said.

The same goes for Seles, the nine-time Grand Slam winner who was hampered by a foot injury this year and lost in the quarterfinals in each of the last three majors. She's ranked seventh.

"The offseason is not very long," Seles said. "You basically have to start training right away. I'm pretty much healed, but we don't have much time. It's very tough to come back from an injury because the ranking system is so brutal."

The 29-year-old Seles had her return game working well and served three aces to finish off Kournikova in the final game. She looks ready for a full schedule in 2003 and doesn't seem to be thinking about retirement.

"As long as she's still having success, I don't see why she won't continue," said Tony Godsick, Seles' agent. "She hasn't said anything to me about it."

Seles and Kournikova have played each other in a number of exhibitions. They left St. Paul on Saturday night for Canada, where they were scheduled to play Sunday in Winnipeg.

"It's tiring, but these matches are great," Seles said. "It's a relaxed atmosphere where we can work on our game a little bit."

It also gives Kournikova, who grew up as a huge Seles fan, a chance to pick up a few pointers.

"It's amazing to play against Monica," Kournikova said. "It's like the best feeling in the world."

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) Monica Seles showed no effects of the foot injury that hampered her last season and beat Anna Kournikova 7-6 (6), 6-4 Saturday night in the Minnesota Tennis Challenge.

A crowd of 9,244 showed up for the exhibition at the Xcel Energy Center.

Seles, who finished the 2002 season ranked No. 7 on the WTA tour, had her return game working well and served three aces in the final game to finish off Kournikova.

Just because the match was an exhibition didn't mean Seles and Kournikova didn't care.

Kournikova, who led 5-3 in the first set, slammed a ball into the net after losing a point during the tiebreaker and earlier glared at the umpire when he read the score wrong.

''It's 30-all,'' she said with a shake of her head and a slight roll of her eyes.

Kournikova, ranked No. 35 and known more for her bare midriff than her success on tour, kept Seles busy on the baseline but faded in the second set.

Still searching for her first tour title, Kournikova will play in the Sydney International in January to tune up for the Australian Open.

Though Seles is eight years older and far more accomplished than Kournikova, the two are friends and have faced off in a number of exhibitions. They left St. Paul on Saturday night for Canada, where they were scheduled to play Sunday in another friendly in Winnipeg.

This was the first match in the Twin Cities area involving major pro players since Team USA beat Sweden in 1992 Davis Cup competition in Minneapolis.

The inexperience showed. A couple fans were chided by the umpire for yelling just before a serve, and Kournikova was annoyed on more than one occasion by ballgirls and judges being out of position.

Kournikova had never played in Minnesota before, and the last time Seles competed here was in a 1991 exhibition against Mary Jo Fernandez. Seles was the top-ranked player in the world at the time.

As a prelude, the flamboyant doubles duo of Luke and Murphy Jensen wearing Minnesota Wild jerseys and wireless microphones faced the University of Minnesota's top doubles team in an eight-game pro set.

Aleksey Zharinov and Thomas Haug overcame a constant stream of good-natured taunting and ''won'' 8-7.

After an unforced error by Zharinov, Luke Jensen said, ''I'm sorry, Gophers. Is the net high?''

Murphy responded, ''That's only the second point, Luke.''

''I know, but it's going good,'' Jensen said.

David Wheaton, a Minnesotan who played 13 years on the ATP tour and reached the semifinals at Wimbledon in 1991, was the emcee.

Once during the doubles match, Wheaton asked the Jensens, ''What do you think Anna's doing right now? Doing her hair?''

Wheaton, who's growing a bit thin on top, didn't know Kournikova was watching.

''I'm sorry you don't have any hair to do,'' she said with a laugh.

The event also included abridged matches between some of the state's top girls and boys players as well as a ''celebrity'' doubles competition mixing the Jensens with a pair of Twin Cities radio deejays.

Former Vikings defensive end Carl Eller, one of the ''Purple People Eaters,'' had a courtside seat.

It's Christmastime in Minnesota. The kids get to visit Santa, but on Saturday night, males aged 15 to 50 will get a visit from Anna.

Yep, it's true; Anna's comin' to town.

But guys, don't even think about sitting on Anna's lap for your Christmas wish. She's got attitude aplenty. Need proof? How about the reported rebuff from a teenage Anna to pestering teenage boys on the grounds of Wimbledon a few years ago: "Forget it boys, you can't afford me."

Anna Kournikova, the 21-year-old Russian supermodel -- who somehow finds time to squeeze in tennis matches between photo shoots -- will take on someone named Monica Seles at 8 p.m. Saturday at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

Monica, by the way, has won nine Grand Slam titles in her career, but who's counting? Certainly not Anna, who has never won a singles title of any kind as a pro.

But who cares? Style counts for everything nowadays, right? I did an Internet search the other day for Anna Kournikova -- to read the articles, of course. Evidently, I had just tallied another hit for the most hit-on athlete on the Web. Put it this way: There were a lot of sites with provocative sights.

To cite just a few: the Anna workout video, the calendar, the magazine covers, the Enrique Iglesias (current boyfriend) music video. It's the stuff that propels her into being the most popular and well-endorsed female athlete on the planet.

Tennis suffers

But she's not the best tennis player. Reaching a player's potential in the world of professional tennis takes a single-mindedness that most people can't even fathom. Juggling tennis and celebrity is next to impossible -- even Andre Agassi toned down his off-court bling-bling to make a run at the top. The rub occurs when the dollars (all right, millions of them) are rolling in and the choice is between a Cosmo cover and another bucket of practice serves. Which would you choose?

Anna's choosing both. A tremendous athlete (in case you didn't notice), Anna has the pedigree, an aggressive all-court game, and even some solid stats: world junior champ, a top pro ranking of No. 8 in singles and No. 1 in doubles, Wimbledon semifinalist in singles. Those credentials help offset the "never-won-a-tournament" moniker that shadows her. Even better results would be a cinch with more on-court action and less off-court distraction.

Seles changes path

Maybe she can take a lesson from Saturday's opponent. Monica was flinging flowers to the faithful as she entered Stade Roland Garros in Paris in the early 1990s. And why not? She had witnessed first-hand the blossoming maven of marketability -- (Image is Everything) Agassi -- at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Fla. Monica emigrated there from Yugoslavia with her family when she was only 12. Monica's fling with flaunting was short-lived -- she has way too much substance to focus on style.

I watched this little girl smash and grunt (loud!) her way through literally millions of tennis balls fed to her by a ball machine day after day, year after year, under the watchful eyes of her dad, brother, and Bollettieri at the Tennis Academy. And as if that weren't enough, she would hit them over a strategically placed shopping cart to work on her shot depth. Her work ethic was exceptional, her concentration phenomenal.

Academy legend has it that she sneaked out to hit against a backboard in the dark of night after she was ordered to rest from an injury. When I was at the know-nothing age of 17, I made my greatest prediction, albeit an obvious one: "She'll be No. 1 in the world someday." And she was, for three years.

And she could have been there for many more years. At the top of the tennis world in 1993, some wacko jumped out of the stands during one of Monica's matches in Hamburg, Germany, and stabbed her in the back with a knife.

The reason? He was a Steffi Graf fan and wanted to see Steffi her regain the top spot.

The back stabber got his wish. While not seriously injured, Monica was emotionally scarred from the attack. And who wouldn't be? It's tough enough taking on your opponent, let alone a deranged fan hurdling the court barrier to stick you with a knife.

She didn't play for two years in the prime of her career, dealing with depression, a not-guilty verdict for her attacker, and the stomach cancer that would eventually take her beloved father's life -- the same artist father who drew cartoons on tennis balls to make the game fun. (Tennis parents: take note.)

Monica fights back

It should come as little surprise that when she did return to the tour in 1995, she won her first tournament handily and then proceeded all the way to the final of the U.S. Open before falling to -- you guessed it, Steffi. Give up? Slink away? Forget it. Monica won the next Grand Slam event she played, the Australian Open in 1996.

Monica doesn't sprinkle sugar on her Wheaties; she garnishes it with rusty tacks. There certainly have been better athletes than Monica, but show me a better competitor. I have never seen her give anything less than her best on every point of every match. That's substance.

Now 29 years old, an American citizen, and ranked seventh in the world, Monica still approaches her craft with the same determination. On Saturday night, as she always has, Monica will stand up on the baseline and whack two-handed drives from corner to corner. She'll play fearlessly on the important points. Heck, she'll even go for more.

Lessons all around to be learned by the darling diva. Better watch out, Anna, Monica's comin' to town, too!

Minnesota's David Wheaton, like Anna, was a Wimbledon semifinalist. Somehow, though, he graced far fewer magazine covers. While still http://www.davidwheaton.com.

Article courtesy of Star Tribune

Article courtesy of The Baltimore Sun

The WTA event in Hyderabad will be a Tier IV championship. It means players who are ranked between 60 and 150 will be allowed to participate. Seles and Pierce, although they are ranked several rungs above the Tier IV limit, will participate by virtue of a "gold exempt."

The event will be organised by Globosport, a company wholly owned by Indian Davis Cup star Mahesh Bhupathi. Confirming that Hyderabad will host the WTA event, Krishna Bhupathi, Mahesh's father, added: "The tournament will be a $140,000 prize money championship. It will be a great boost for women's tennis in India."

The senior Bhupathi said his son was going "all-out" to make the event a big success. "He has been talking to several top stars. Pierce is surely going to come and Seles is almost a certainty."

Among the other top-ranked women will be Clarisa Fernandez. The Argentina had made the French Open semis before bowing out to Venus Williams. Top Uzbek Iroda Tulyaganova will spearhead the Asian challenge.

There will be three wildcards, of which one is certainly going to go to the talented Sania Mirza.

Article courtesy of The Times of India

"I call these my gravy years," Seles said from Dublin, Ireland, where she and Lindsay Davenport, her opponent here tonight, were in an international competition last week. "I have nothing left to prove. I have fun and really enjoy it. I hope the fans are enjoying watching me play. And, hopefully, the little kids will see the delight I am getting from the game and want to play because they see how much fun it is."

For Seles, part of the fun will come when she makes her fourth appearance in the Tennis Challenge, the creation of Baltimore's retired Hall of Fame player, Pam Shriver.

Seventh-ranked Seles will play No. 12 Davenport in the main singles event, preceded by the Smith Barney Legends of Tennis Match and followed by the Orioles Challenge Match.

Seles said she is looking forward to helping out Shriver, her friend, once more.

"Gosh, Pam and I go way back," Seles said. "We even competed against each other - I don't want to think how far back. And I've played her event and it's a wonderful event. I think it is the best, in terms of a celebrity match. She has great athletes playing - Brady [Anderson] plays some great tennis - and there is a great atmosphere there. The crowd just seems to love it and comes year after year.

"I love helping her, because she's made an exceptional transition from the game, given back to the sport we both love and done so much for children in Baltimore with this event. She's definitely a role model."

Shriver and Seles first hit tennis balls together in practice at Wimbledon in 1989. At the time, Shriver said, it seemed unlikely that a real friendship would develop.

"It's this way with a lot of tennis players," Shriver said. "In the beginning, you see only the differences, the age difference, being from different countries, the way you play the game. Then, as you get older, you see the 11 years between us mean nothing, you see that you both love the game and, in our case, we developed a bond because we both lost loved ones about the same time. Now, we're at the stage where we see all the similarities, not the differences."

Seles remembers being warmly welcomed by Shriver and her family from the moment she first set foot in Baltimore.

"I played Jennifer [Capriati] there," Seles said. "She was 15 and I was 16, and it was just fun. And I met Pam's grandmother [who bought Seles' racket at the event's charity auction]. She has been a big supporter of mine from that time, and it was a time, in those early years, when I didn't have many fans.

"Then later, Pam lost her sister Marion and I lost my father [six months apart in 1998]. It was nice to have someone who could relate. It was nice to talk to her. And now, to see Pam so happy with George [Lazenby], it's wonderful. It's a very happy stage in her life with her new husband and being inducted into the Hall of Fame."

It's also a happy stage of life for Seles.

She saw Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario retire earlier this year, but said that did not spur her to follow the Spaniard's path.

"Arantxa is in a different stage in her life," said Seles, a former world No. 1. "She's two years older than me. As long as I can play Top 10, I'll play. The last three, four years have been good, except for a foot problem. But I'm injury-free now. And to have a good solid year like this is very encouraging. I know I have another three or four years if I want them. Retirement, it's not even crossing my mind. I'm just going out there because I love it."

Article courtesy of The Baltimore Sun

Seles, partnered by fellow singles former world number one Lindsey Davenport, eventually held service in that titanic game against Europe's Iva Majoli and Barbara Schett to take a 5-3 lead.

But that didn't prove the only similar nerve jangling game during the course of a richly absorbing 88 minutes of action which eventually saw the American pairing prevail on a 7-6 (7-4) 6-1, to give the Americans a 3-0 lead.

Seles was also involved in a serving capacity in the third game of the first set, when she was forced to save three break points and survive five deuces. Ironically, however, the Yugoslav born player was the only member of the quarted on court not to have her serve broken.

Exhibition matches obviously enough are not always for real, and it occasionally happens that a stronger player will 'carry' a weaker opponent to extend a game beyond its normal time span as a means of sustaining the interests of the fans.

But there was certainly nothing contrived about last night's curtain raiser. All four players performed with tremendous verve, energy and commitment throughout, and as a result the fans were treated to a truly magnificent spectacle.

The authenticity of the contest was underlined in the 12th game of the second set which the American duo could easily let go to a third set if they had so desired.

After a tremendous piece of all out ground stroke slugging by Seles and Majoli on the baseline, Schett forced a wide forehand off Davenport, and that resulted in a point for the second set for the European pairing at 30-40.

Another point in the host's continent favour would of course have levelled the match at one set each. But Seles forced a netted forehand from Majoli to level at deuce.

And after 1997 French open singles champion Majoli had returned a service wide, Seles levelled the second set at 6-6 thanks to a stunning ace to Austrian Schett.

That resulted in a tie break in which the issue was never in any doubt. Croatian Majoli served a double fault to provide the Americans with a 3-1 lead, and then the same player made another inexplicable error when misjudged a return from Seles which just landed inside the baseline.

A backhand winner from Davenport stretched the Americans' lead to 5-1, but Schett provided the Europeans with some hope when she forced a netted return off Davenport for 2-5.

However, Schett lost the next two points in her serve, Davenport putting away a forehand volley and then Seles following up with a fiercely driven back hand volley down the middle of the court.

The two Europeans were disappointed with the result but they were unsurprisingly quite pleased with their performance in the second set.

"It was a very difficult match for us because we've only played together three times before, and of course in Monica and Lindsay, we wre up against two of the top players in the world," said Majoli, who although being the first player to serve an ace was also the first to lose her serve on the second break point to provide the Americans with a 3-1 lead in the first set.

Pin-up stars Anna Kournikova and Barbara Schett were amongst those playing at Dublin`s RDS centre, in an event expected to raise 500,000 euro (£318,500) for a children`s charity.

Players last night marked the start of the Trilogy event in aid of the Chernobyl Children`s Project when they took to the catwalk alongside supermodels Tyra Banks, Jodie Kidd and Sophie Dahl.

Irish models such as Natasha Byram, Vivienne Connolly and Lizanna Kirwan were also among those modelling with the international sports stars.

Tennis aces were tonight moving back to the courts for the start of the Europe v USA tennis section of the Trilogy.

This evening Lindsay Davenport was taking on Barbara Schett, with Monica Seles facing Anna Kournikova. Other tennis stars in Dublin for the event include Serena and Venus Williams, Jennifer Capriati and Iva Majoli.

Winners of an Irish radio show were to play their tennis heroes at the opening night of the tennis tournament. Dave Crenin, 26, of Cork, was to take on Anna Kournikova, while 12-year-old Emily Burke of Kilkenny was to play Barbara Schett.

The Collins Cup is modelled on golf`s Ryder Cup, with all sportswomen taking part on a voluntary basis. Some 40% of proceeds from the event are to be donated to the Chernobyl project.

The 3.6million euro (£2.3m) festival was originally to have incorporated music as well as fashion and tennis, but organisers were unable to secure a major music act.

The following day will see the start of a Ryder Cup style event pitching Europe's best against the USA's finest for the Collins Cup, with three days of action featuring the Venus and Serena Williams, Anna Kournikova, Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati and Jelena Dokic. Sean Collins, Managing Director of Propriety Management, confirmed the world's top women's tennis players had reported fit and well and will be arriving in Dublin from Monday next. He said: "Everything is in place and Dublin will see the top stars of tennis and fashion next week."

Collins said the music element of The Trilogy was being rolled into the Fashion Show which will be a 'spectacular event'. The Irish group Anuna, currently appearing in New York, are being flown to Dublin to present a spectacular Celtic Suite at the Fashion Show. The decision to combine the fashion and music elements of The Trilogy was taken in the past week. He added: "The whole concept of The Trilogy was to bring the biggest stars in tennis, fashion and music to Dublin. We have done this with the tennis and fashion elements. When it became clear to us that the very top pop music act would not be available to come to Dublin at this time we decided, very reluctantly, to combine the fashion and music into one spectacular event."

The show, produced by Julian Benson, will include a runway presentation of top Irish and international designers including Escada, John Rocha, Louise Kennedy and Maraid Whisker and an entertainment special including musical performances by Anuna, Soprano Mirriam Blennerhasset and a performance by The Basados Ballet Company. Collins also confirmed that leading supermodels Tyra Banks, Sophie Dahl, Aimee Mullins and Jodie Kidd will be joined on the catwalk by Irish models including Natasha Byram, Vivienne Connolly and Lizanna Kirwan and tennis stars Kournikova, Schett, Dokic, Daniella Hantuchova, Iva Majoli, and Lindsay Davenport.

This will be the first time all six ladies have been on a catwalk with supermodels of this calibre, and the tennis players are very excited about their catwalk appearance. Barbara Schett admitted: "It's my first time to be on the catwalk and I'm very excited. We would probably feel more comfortable if they were on the court with us! It's going to be fun!" Venus Willimas revealed: "I've never been to Ireland before and I've never been involved with an event like this before incorporating fashion, music and tennis. It's gonna be very different and I'm really looking forward to it!"

The Chernobyl Children's Project will benefit from The Trilogy events. The International Fashion Show Extravaganza launches The Trilogy at the RDS on Wednesday December 4 - Doors open at 7pm and the Fashion Show starts at 8.30pm. This will be followed by the Europe v USA tennis event on December 5, 6 and 7. Zina Garrison (USA) and Annabel Croft (Europe) will captain the sides.

Tickets are available from Ticketmaster on www.ticketmaster.ie and on 1890 925 100, and range from €50 to €100. Corporate boxes are available for all three events. Official corporate hospitality is available from CSL Associates. Tel: (01) 6766650 or on www.cslassociates.ie

Winning the singles exhibition event has been a constant for Seles, too. Thursday night at the University of Denver's Magness Arena, Seles once again didn't disappoint.

Facing the venerable Martina Navratilova before an appreciative crowd of about 4,000, Seles won the singles event for the third year in a row, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.

But it wasn't nearly as easy as it was last year for Seles, who disposed of Anna Kournikova in straight sets 6-2, 6-2.

Navratilova, whose 167 singles titles are more than anyone in the world, gave the crowd a show. She mockingly dropped her racket in disgust on a close call by the linesman that didn't go her way, and she laughed and danced along the baseline after a few serves.

Seles also appeared to enjoy herself, laughing and smiling at Navratilova's antics.

But if the mood was light, the tennis was serious, as Seles' trademark grunts could attest. The first set went to a tiebreaker after serve was held throughout by each player, with Seles winning the tiebreaker and match 7-6 (7-4) by tapping Navratilova's final serve just over the net, where it couldn't be returned.

"I think my serve helped me a lot," Seles said. "That I could hold my serve through the game, and through the tiebreaker, I was a little bit lucky for a while. But it made a big difference and put a little less pressure on me."

Seles, ranked No. 4 in the world, mentioned during a news conference Wednesday that Navratilova, who at age 45 is ranked 72nd in the world, would have an advantage because she lived in Aspen and was more acclimated to the altitude. But Seles broke Navratilova's serve in the first game of the second set and went on to win 6-2 to close out the match.

"It's like any time you play your friends on the tour," Seles said. "Once you step on the court, it's business. Once we step off, we're totally friends. I just try to be aggressive. In these conditions, you hit or miss. When I saw that Martina was going to keep the ball low, I just had to bend my knees and just accelerate and go for it."

The mood of the evening turned even lighter in the doubles event, with comedian Jon Lovitz umpiring. Retired tennis player Mary Joe Fernandez, who gave birth to a daughter 11 months ago, teamed with Seles to beat Navratilova and rising tennis star Corina Morariu 9-7 in a one-set match.

In the first singles event of the night, Sara Anundsen of Columbine High School beat Nicole Leimbach of Pine Creek High School in Colorado Springs 6-2 in a one-match exhibition. Anundsen is a two-time state champion who has committed to the University of North Carolina.

All proceeds from the event will benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Rocky Mountain MS Center.

Tonight they face each other at Denver University's Magness Arena to raise money and draw attention to the fight against multiple sclerosis, a disease that affects one in every 800 Coloradans.

The Rebif MS Tennis Classic will bring the two champions together for a singles match at 7 p.m.. After that, comedian Jon Lovitz will umpire a doubles match featuring Navratilova, Seles, retired tennis player Mary Joe Fernandez and rising star Corina Morariu, with all proceeds benefiting the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Rocky Mountain MS Center.

In the past, the event has paired Seles and Lindsey Davenport (2000) and Seles and Anna Kournikova (2001), but for history and championships, neither compare to the pairing of Seles and Navratilova. The two have battled for the highest stakes in several Grand Slam events.

"We've had a few," Seles said when asked which match against Navratilova she remembered most. "But it had to be the (U.S. Open) Championship, in 1991, when we played in the finals there. That was great tennis. Then we played in Paris in 1992 in a three-set match.

"We've just had some classic matches, and to this day, when I watch those matches at home, on videotape, the games are just great.

"The games, but not the hairstyles."

They could afford to share a few laughs at the news conference Wednesday, but when Seles first turned pro and Navratilova was at the height of her domination of women's tennis, their matches were no joking matter. After losing in her first three matches against Navratilova after she turned pro in 1989, it meant the world to Seles to finally beat her in the finals of the 1990 Italian Open.

"I think when I first beat her, I thought I had played the best match of my life," said Seles, who has nine Grand Slam titles on her resume. "It was one of those days that I couldn't miss a ball, one of those matches that you never forget. It was always very special because when I was growing up, I always had a poster of Martina in my room and she was the one I looked up to."

Navratilova, who lives in Aspen, retired in 1994 after winning 166 doubles and 166 singles titles, more than any man or woman. She came out of retirement recently to play tennis semiregularly, and earlier this year she became the oldest woman, at age 45, to win a singles match on tour.

"Martina is in amazing shape," Seles said. "She is used to the altitude, so she'll have an advantage."

The biggest change in the game since making her return, Navratilova said, is the staggering power of the women's game.

"Everybody hits the ball hard," she said. "Not just the top players like Monica and Steffi (Graf). Everybody is hitting the cover off the ball. And players are more aggressive from the baseline. That's taken away a little bit of the variety, but the power that is out there from the baseline is the big difference."

Local junior players Sara Anundsen, a two-time Class 5A state champion from Columbine High School, and Nicole Leimbach, a two-time Class 4A champion from Pine Creek in Colorado Springs, will play a singles match at 5:45 p.m. before Seles and Navratilova square off.

Williams will play No. 5 Kim Clijsters on Sunday in the semifinals of the season-ending tournament that determines the WTA Tour's final rankings.

Clijsters beat No. 4 Justine Henin 6-2, 6-1 in an all-Belgian quarterfinal.

Seles was clearly the favorite of the crowd at Staples Center, where she saved seven match points in beating Lindsay Davenport in the first round.

"I was very happy to be able to stay with her," Williams said. "I have a lot of respect for her. She was my favorite player growing up. That's why I started grunting; I wanted to be like Monica."

Seles successfully neutralized Williams' firepower, cracking winners off serves that reached 113 mph. Even when she didn't hit outright winners, Seles got the ball in play and Williams helped by making 38 unforced errors.

Williams had 11 aces and hit 44 winners to Seles' 21.

Seles blew a 4-1 lead in the first set, then had four break points to go up 5-3, but Williams hit a forehand winner and a 114-mph serve to hold at 4-4. Williams later broke Seles at love for a 6-5 lead before hitting a backhand winner off her 115-mph serve to win the set.

They traded service breaks early in the second set before Seles led 3-2. Williams survived nine deuces on her serve and tied the set 3-3 when Seles netted a backhand.

Williams broke Seles in two of the next three games for a 5-4 lead. Williams fired a 116-mph ace to set up her first match point. She won it on her second when Seles netted a forehand.

Williams extended her dominance of Seles, having won nine of their 10 career meetings, including the last three.

Seles's victory was her first over Davenport for five years, ending a string of nine consecutive defeats.

The entertaining first-round clash between two of the tour's best known and most popular players attracted more spectators than the few hundred sprinkled through the cavernous Staples Center for the first afternoon session earlier in the day.

But the match still unfolded in front of more empty seats than occupied ones as the WTA's season-ending extravaganza got off to a muted start.

Davenport, who did not begin her season until July after recovering from knee surgery, looked the fresher of the two veterans.

She grabbed control by breaking Seles to go in front 4-3, winning seven games in a row to take the opening set and a 3-0 lead in the second.

But Seles, who has played in only one event since the U.S. Open, refused to fold.

Playing with an aggression absent in the opening set, Seles began to go for her shots, hitting back to level the second set and take it to a tie-break.

Her comeback appeared to be fizzling out as she trailed 4-0 but, despite holding numerous match points, Davenport could not finish off her feisty opponent, Seles taking the tie-break 8-6 to force a third set.

In the deciding set the momentum clearly swung in favor of Seles, who broke at 5-3 and then held serve to close out the match.

Seles, faced her first match point in the 10th game of the second set and then was down double-match point in the 12th game. She trailed the second-set tiebreaker 6-2.

The sixth-seeded Seles, however, simply refused to lose. She rallied to win the final six points of the tiebreak and took the match 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3 over Davenport.

Both Seles, who's been coming back from a foot injury, and Davenport, in her ninth tournament since having knee surgery in January, played well in their first-round match, with a string of long rallies and sizzling winners down the lines.

Davenport, who finished last year as No. 1 in the world, had reached the finals in four of the events she played since returning to the tour in July. She has not, though, won a title this year.

In afternoon matches, No. 4 Justine Henin defeated Elena Dementieva, and No. 5 Kim Clijsters breezed past Chanda Rubin.

No. 2 Venus Williams was to play Patty Schnyder of Switzerland in Wednesday night's final match. Top seed Serena Williams begins play Thursday night against Anna Smashnova.

After the afternoon matches drew fewer than 200 spectators, there was a crowd of some 5,000 at the evening session at Staples Center, which seats around 20,000.

Seles wrapped up the match by winning the last three games of the third set.

Henin, a 20-year-old player from Belgium who has been steadily improving, kept Dementieva off-balance and beat her 6-3, 6-3 with a blend of well-placed ground strokes and successful forays to the net.

Henin, who has reached six finals this year and won twice, won 11 points in 13 chances at the net, and her accuracy down the lines kept Dementieva scurrying side to side.

The 21-year-old Russian made 40 unforced errors, 13 more than Henin.

Henin broke Dementieva's service in the sixth game of the opening set to go up 4-2, then held on her next two service games to take the set.

Henin took control in the second by breaking Dementieva's serve in the seventh game.

Dementieva lost the final point of each of the last two games of the match on a pair of poorly executed drop shots. The first went into the net in the eighth game, and the next was a high bouncer in midcourt that Henin easily reached and slashed a crosscourt forehand to end the match.

Clijsters, her groundstrokes crisp and on target, needed only 57 minutes to beat Rubin 6-1, 6-2.

Rubin's second serve was particularly shaky – she double-faulted nine times – and she managed to hit just five groundstroke winners, while her 19-year-old foe from Belgium hit seven backhands and six forehands for winners.

The single-elimination tournament pits the top 16 singles players and top eight doubles teams based on points accumulated during the year. The results will determine the final WTA Tour rankings for the year.

The winner of the Monday night's singles final will collect $765,000 of $3 million in prize money.

At 28, Monica Seles crossed the imaginary age barrier that tends to precipitate questions of retirement a few years ago, but has no plans of retiring in the immediate future. She still has designs on at least one more Grand Slam title.

Although Seles hasn't dominated women's tennis as she did before being stabbed at a tournament in Hamburg, Germany, in 1993, she has consistently been ranked in the top 10 since 1995, when she returned from 27 months of inactivity after the attack.

``You look at what the press says that you're old and washed up when you're 25 or 26. It's not as bad as gymnastics, but it's almost getting to be like that,'' Seles said. ``But I think I'll play max, another two years, like at 30 I'm going to stop.

``But who knows? If I go Australia in January and I'm just like, `Gosh, this is not what I want to be doing,' then I'm going to stop. There's no pressure there.

``I'd love to win a Grand Slam before my career is over. But it's not the only thing. If I don't win another one, it's not like I won't be happy with my career.''

Seles is ranked No. 7 and is seeded sixth in the Women's Tennis Championships that begin tomorrow at Staples Center. It will be her first tournament since September as she has been rehabilitating a stress reaction in her right foot that has hampered her play since April.

Seles previously was having one of her best seasons since she became the youngest No. 1 player at age 17 in March, 1991. After ending Venus Williams 24-match winning streak in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in February, Seles reached the semifinals or better in the first five events of 2002.

``For Monica, I think it would be hard to stop because she's always finished so high, she always has these great years, she wins titles and she's always kind of giving herself a chance at the Slams,'' said close friend Lindsay Davenport, who will be Seles' first-round opponent Wednesday night.

``You should keep playing if you're able to stay up there. I think it's tougher if you're up there and then you fall, and then you're barely ranked 50th. But (Monica) still hits the ball better than anybody, she hits amazing shots and she returns so well. Her game is a great game.

``I haven't played her this year, but it seems like she always beats the players she's supposed to beat, and is always in the quarters and the semis and the finals of all the tournaments.''

But when Seles talks of playing until 30, you have to remember that for two years and three months, at the peak of her career, she did not even pick up a tennis racket. Seles was only 19 when 38-year-old Gunther Parche jumped on to the court and plunged a 9-inch boning knife between her shoulder blades during a change-over in her quarterfinal match against Magdalena Maleeva at the Citizen Cup Tournament in Hamburg, Germany, on April 30, 1993.

At the time of the attack, Seles had been the most dominant player in women's tennis for two years. At 19, she already had won eight of the 14 Grand Slam tournaments in which she had played … second fastest in the Open Era behind Margaret Court (who won seven titles in 10 attempts).

In 1991, on her way to the No. 1 ranking, Seles reached the final of every event she entered and won all three Grand Slams she entered. In 1992, she repeated as champion of the Australian, French and U.S. Opens and compiled a 70-5 match record.

Parche said later that he had not wanted to kill Seles, merely to injure her so Steffi Graf could regain the No. 1 ranking. But had Seles not been bending down when Parche stabbed her, doctors said he could have killed her as the knife narrowly missed the spinal area.

Parche never has been punished or spent a day in prison for the attack and Seles remains deeply hurt by that. The judge in the case, Elke Bosse, gave Parche a suspended two-year sentence, based partly on the testimony of a psychiatrist who said Parche had a highly abnormal personality. Since the ruling, Seles has decided not to play in Germany again.

``I just never wanted to come back when they never punished the guy, he never spent a day in jail,'' she said. ``I was really hurt about that. But then I realized I loved the game way too much. I really think my dad (Karolj) helped me to see that you gotta do what you love.''

In her first event back on August 15, 1995, Seles won the 1995 Canadian Open as a wild card. Next, she reached the final of the U.S. Open as a No. 2 seed before losing to Graf 7-6, 0-6, 6-3.

Seles maintained her No. 1 ranking through Nov. 3, 1996. Her best finish since in a Grand Slam was reaching the finals of the French Open in 1998.

The two years she sat out are forever gone and Seles is left to wonder how many Grand Slams she could have won during that time. But horrible as the incident was, Seles has taken something positive from it.

``It's a Catch-22, but in long run, it definitely helped me to see that there is life outside of tennis,'' Seles said. ``In those two years, I could finally spend time with kids my own age and do stuff. If I wanted to go skiing, I didn't have to worry about breaking a finger or breaking my leg. I stayed out in Vail and Lake Tahoe and, really, I just lived like a normal life. It was so good.

``Since I was probably 8 years old, I'd never spent more than two months at my house, so it was nice.''

Although she has no immediate plans of retirement, Seles allows herself to think what life will be like without the game she has loved since she began playing tennis with her father on a parking lot in Novi Sad, the capital of Vojvodina, an autonomous province in the former Yugoslavia claimed by Serbia.

``Oh yeah, I let myself think about it,'' Seles said with a laugh. ``I'm kind of looking forward to it because it will really be the first time I'll have a normal life.

``Another part of me is definitely like, `What am I going to do?' because I've played tennis for so long and I've always been so focused on it.

``I'm just trying to explore a few other things. I feel like a lot of my friends went through this, not at 28, but when they were like 22. I don't know what I want to do but I think I have a lot of time to figure that out.

``But I don't think my transition will be too difficult. I just think it will be difficult to find something that I love as much as I love tennis.''

The 28-year-old American has now qualified for the Championships an amazing 12 times, more than any other player in the 2002 event. A three-time champion from 1990 to 1992, Seles has reached final only once since then, in her most recent appearance two years ago.

In the final Championships at New York's Madison Square Garden, Seles led Martina Hingis a set and 4-2 before falling. After missing last year's event in Munich, Monica will be warmly welcomed at STAPLES Center.

Monica enjoyed a brilliant start to 2002, reaching the semifinals or better of her first seven events, beating Venus Williams in the Australian Open quarterfinals and winning her 52nd career title at Doha.

Despite reaching the quarterfinals of Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open, and returning to No.4 in the world, Seles has been troubled a right foot injury for much of the second half of the year. It shortened her US Open preparations and has forced her to miss the entire indoor season, having not played since Bahia, the week after the US Open.

She may be lacking match practice, but Seles has proven in the past she can hit the ground running when returning from injury. One of the greatest players of all time, Seles has been a major figure in women's tennis for much of the past dozen years. Another Championships title is certainly not out of the question.

Expected matches for Wednesday and Thursday are as follows:

Wednesday's Sessions will start at 12:30 p.m. & 7:00 p.m.
(two matches per session)

Kim Clijsters (BEL) vs. Chanda Rubin (USA)
Elena Dementieva (RUS) vs. Justine Henin (BEL)
Monica Seles (USA) vs. Lindsay Davenport (USA)
Patty Schnyder (SUI) vs. Venus Williams (USA)

Thursday's Sessions will start at 12:30 p.m. & 7:00 p.m.
(two matches per session)

Anastasia Myskina (RUS) vs. Jelena Dokic (YUG)
Magdalena Maleeva (BUL) vs. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)
Serena Williams (USA) vs. Anna Smashnova (ISR)
Jennifer Capriati (USA) vs. Silvia Farina Elia (ITA)

The Home Depot Championships Presented by Porsche will host a media day at STAPLES Center on Tuesday, November 5 at 10:00 a.m. Players will be available to credentialed media in two one-hour sessions.

Individual tickets for all ten tournament sessions are now available via Ticketmaster charge-by-phone network (213-480-3232), all Ticketmaster outlets and on-line at www.ticketmaster.com. Group discounts as well as special five, seven and ten session "season" passes are available by calling 1-866-524-7687.

For more information about the Home Depot Championships Presented by Porsche and for media credentials please call Jeremy Riffle at 310-210-1336 and to learn more about the Sanex WTA Tour visit www.sanexwta.com.

It is the Orioles Challenge that may require fans to suspend their take on reality for a little while.

Yesterday, tournament personnel presided over the official announcement that Lindsay Davenport and Monica Seles, two former World No. 1s and current Top 10 players, will compose the feature match of the evening.

Patrick McEnroe, the U.S. Davis Cup team coach, former ATP Tour player and current television analyst, also has agreed to anchor the Legends of Tennis segment. His fellow competitors will be named soon.

But it was the Orioles Challenge, which is designed to team Orioles players with Davenport and Seles, that will be a little different this year, while staying very much the same.

Brady Anderson, who has been a mainstay in the event for the past seven years, will return for an eighth time, despite no longer being an Oriole. Anderson, who was with the Orioles from 1988 through 2001, is out of baseball after being released by the Cleveland Indians earlier this year.

"But he promised not to wear an Indians uniform," said retired women's pro Elise Burgin, who emceed yesterday's news conference in the absence of the tournament's creator, Hall of Fame player Pam Shriver.

Shriver was home in California, where she is under doctor's orders not to travel for several weeks after a minor medical procedure. She did take part, however, via phone.

A year ago, Anderson had finished his last season with the Orioles when he teamed with Andre Agassi to keep his winning record in the event perfect. At the time, Shriver said: "There will always be a place for Brady in this tournament."

Still, Shriver said she was a little surprised he wanted to do it this year.

"We thought he'd just say, 'Nah,' " she said. "But he's been around Baltimore a bit in the offseason and said he wanted to come back to defend his title."

Shriver acknowledged something of an ulterior motive in getting McEnroe to come to the Arena. She noted his Davis Cup connection and that he has a lot of input as to where the U.S. matches are scheduled.

"We feel the Arena is a good place for tennis," Shriver said. "It's a chance for him to look at the Arena, when it's full of people, as an indoor site. You never know what may come of that."

The appearance here of Davenport, Seles and McEnroe continues the trend of stars Shriver has paraded through Baltimore, as she has dedicated her time and this tournament to raising more than $3 million for children's charities.

"Isn't it amazing?" Burgin said. "The first year of Pam's charity event was 1986. She was 24 years old, and even then she had the clout and foresight to put it together, bring the best players in the world to Baltimore and make it a success."

This year, because of schedules that have committed many players to tournaments overseas, putting the 17th Chevy Chase Bank Tennis Challenge together really has been a challenge for Shriver. She received the final commitments in just the past few days.

But among players she will announce at a news conference today for the Dec. 10 event are two of the most admired women in the game - Lindsay Davenport and Monica Seles, both former No. 1 players in the world.

Seles is currently ranked No. 7, and Davenport, who returned to the game in August after missing most of the year after knee surgery, is No. 10.

"We are excited about the match we've put together," Shriver said from her California home. "We were struggling for a long time. We pursued both men and women players. On the women's side, we tried for the Williams sisters, Venus, Serena or both, and Jennifer Capriati, and on the men's side we tried for [Andre] Agassi, [Andy] Roddick and [Pete] Sampras."

At the same time, Shriver said she kept her eyes on Davenport and Seles, and when it became apparent that those first six players could not fit the Baltimore tournament into their schedules, she went hard after the two women who have bailed her out in the past.

Seles appeared here in 1990, 1996 and 1997. The last time, she was a late entry, stepping in for Steffi Graf, who backed out because of injury. It was a similar situation in 1998, when Davenport came to the rescue, when Graf was again hurt, this time the week before the event.

The arena crowd responded so warmly to Davenport, and she had such a good time, she came back again the next year.

Davenport finished last season at No. 1 before her surgery, and Seles continues to compete hard against those ranked above her.

"Both women are good citizens," Shriver said. "They are something of a throwback. ... They're involved with the sport off the tennis court, and they care. Even though they are not linked to the Billie Jean King era, they certainly understand the role of tennis player beyond a tennis match, and I think Baltimore appreciates and responds to the kind of effort they give."

Shriver will not be at today's news conference. She has recently undergone a minor medical procedure that precludes travel for a few weeks. Shriver said she plans to be here for the tournament in December.

Over the past 16 years, the event has raised more than $3 million for children's charities, through the Baltimore Community Foundation.

Sixth-ranked Seles, winner of nine grand slam tournaments, joins world Nos. 1 and 2 Serena and Venus Williams in missing the $1.2 million tournament.

Anna Kournikova also will have to sit out of this year's tournament. Additional tests have confirmed the diagnosis that she sprained her left ankle and tore a ligament in Moscow last week.

The Schluefweg Arena event still boasts a powerful field, however, with Jennifer Capriati, Amelie Mauresmo, Justine Henin, Lindsay Davenport, Jelena Dokic, Kim Clijsters and Martina Hingis all signed up to play.

Former world No. 1 Hingis is one of a record four Swiss women in the main draw.

Tenth-ranked Hingis is joined by world No. 17 Patty Schnyder as an automatic qualifier while Marie-Gaiane Mikaelian and Myriam Casanova were handed wildcards.

"They are both young, they both play attractive, powerful tennis, and they both won their first WTA tournaments this year and have gained a lot of ground in the rankings -- that's why we gave them wildcards," tournament director Beat Ritschard said.

While 17-year-old Casanova is making her debut in the Schluefweg Stadium this year, Mikaelian, who is a year older, amazed everyone at the 2001 event when she stormed through qualification to reach the quarter-finals, where she lost to the then top-ranked Capriati.

Denver, September 24, 2002 - Tennis superstars Monica Seles and Martina Navratilova are set to play in an exhibition tennis match benefiting Multiple Sclerosis (MS), the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Colorado Chapter and the Rocky Mountain Multiple Sclerosis Center announced today.

The third annual Rebif MS Tennis Classic presented by The Denver Post, the only professional tennis match to visit the Rocky Mountain Region, returns Thursday November 14^th at University of Denver's Magness Arena, to benefit The National Multiple Sclerosis Society Colorado Chapter and the Rocky Mountain MS Center. All proceeds from the event, as well as any ancillary events, will fund research and programs for both of the Denver-based MS organizations.

We are thrilled the Rebif MS Tennis Classic is returning to Denver for its third year. This event has been such a wonderful success for our organizations," said Dianne Williams, president of The National Multiple Sclerosis Society Colorado Chapter.Williams continued, "Considering that 73 percent of those affected by MS are women, bringing in a professional women's tennis event just makes sense for us."

One in 800 Coloradoans are affected by Multiple Sclerosis. It is a chronic, often disabling disease of the Central Nervous System. Symptoms range from numbness in the limbs to paralysis or loss of vision. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, but the unpredictable physical and emotional effects can be lifelong.

Seles, returning after beating Russian player Anna Kournikova in 2 straight sets at last years event, will find herself across the net from tour legend Navratilova, undoubtedly providing for a very exciting event for tennis fans of all ages. Yugoslavian born, Seles is currently ranked number four in the world and resides in Sarasota, Florida. Seles is one of the most revered players on the tour with an exceptional fan base in Colorado. She has come back from serious obstacles, and has captured three of the four Grand Slams with nine total Grand Slam Titles. Preliminary events for this year will include a free kids's clinic hosted by Greenwood Athletic Club, featuring lessons from Denver's Top Tennis Pros as well as a special appearance from Sanex WTA Tour legend Mary Joe Fernandez or current Tour player Corina Marariu, the former #1 doubles player who recently returned to the Tour following a successful bout with Leukemia. In addition, a press conference and player/sponsor party will be held on November 13th. The festivities of the main event on the 14^th will begin when doors open at Magness Arena at 5:30p.m. with pro-sets beginning at 6pm. The main singles match will begin at 7 p.m., and the evening will finish up with a doubles pro-set featuring Mary Joe Fernandez and Corina Morariu.

The second-seeded Seles stormed through the first set in less than a half an hour, ripping deep returns to repeatedly break Nagyova's serve.

Betrayed by an errant service toss and a slew of double faults, Seles' surrended serve twice in the second set, but compensated with crisp groundstrokes to easily advance.

"I have been struggling with my serve since the U.S. Open," Seles said. "I was having great difficulty with my toss tonight."

Coach Mike Sell did not make the trip to Bahia, Brasil, so Seles said she'll have to wait until she returns to the States to work on her serve.

"Since I am here without my coach I will not work on it," Seles said. "I plan to just stick to my normal practice routine."

In the final four, Seles takes on talented Greek teenager Eleni Daniilidou tomorrow afternoon. It will be their second career meeting. The first came at the 2001 U.S. Open where Seles came prevailed 6-2, 6-3 in the third round.

Seles, seeded second in the hard-court event, will face eighth-seeded Eleni Daniilidou of Greece, a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 winner over fourth-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland.

In the other semifinal, top-seeded Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia will play third-seeded Anastasia Myskina of Russia.

Dokic, the runner-up last year, beat South Africa's Amanda Coetzer 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, and Myskina defeated Slovenia's Maja Matevzic 7-5, 6-1.

Monica Seles overcame a slow start to kick off her Brazil Open defence with a 7-5 6-1 win against Slovenia's Tina Pisnik.

The former Australian, US and French Open champion fell 3-5 behind in the first set of the second-round match.

But she won seven straight games to clinch the set and raced to a 3-0 lead in the second before rain interrupted the match.

When play resumed she closed out the match comfortably.

"Pisnik was playing very well in the beginning of the match, and I was slow to find my rhythm, so I slowed my pace and tried to play longer balls. It worked", said the world number 5. "Then, in the second set, the rain delay was a little bit unsettling, and she didn't played so well. It was a good start", said Seles.

Seles, seeking her third title of the year after wins in Doha and Madrid, will meet Slovakia's Henrieta Nagyova in the last eight.

Nagyova shocked fifth-seed and former French Open champion Iva Majoli, of Croatia, 6-2 6-3.

Monica Seles has a lot of thinking to do.

A 6-2 6-3 defeat by Venus Williams in the quarter-finals of the U.S. Open Wednesday underlined yet again that the 28-year old is unlikely to ever challenge again for top honors.

A little slower than at her best and overtaken in the power stakes by a younger breed, the once irrepressible Seles now has her limitations.

No-one could ever call her a failure, however.

At the Australian Open this year she beat Williams to reach the semi-finals, and she was also a quarter-finalist at both the French Open and Wimbledon.

There were semi-finals at Indian Wells, Miami, the Paris indoor event and Dubai, a runner-up finish in Tokyo, and even two tournament victories, in Doha and Madrid.

But those titles came against comparatively weak opposition. When it comes to the grand slams or top level tournaments, the chance of her lifting the trophy is now remote.

STEP SLOWER

Despite a trophy cabinet that boasts nine grand slam titles, she's now a step slower than the new kids on the block, and it's harder to grind out match after match no matter how much she loves to hit tennis balls.

"Right now I'm really enjoying it, working hard. If my body allows it I'd like to keep playing," she said. "I'll keep playing tennis for ever, really.

"It would be impossible, I think, to do something you love since you were six or seven and then suddenly stop at 28 or 30 or 32. It's been too big a part of my life."

But although she loves the game, she doesn't like going out to battle. She never played with the goal of becoming world number one or winning grand slam titles.

They just followed.

"I never liked the competition part at all, because it's hard. I just love to play tennis," said Seles. "I wish we didn't have to go out there and win and lose, because that's very tough emotionally.

"Even if you win a tournament, the next week you have to play again and you never get time to enjoy it."

She admits there have been distractions recently.

"Any matches I've gone into the last few months, it's been a struggle for me mentally for different reasons. Nothing to do with tennis. I haven't made anything complicated. Unfortunately it's all been other people.

YOUNGER GENERATION

"It's just made me do what I have to do," she said, while refusing to explain what has disturbed her.

There can only be speculation that she might now be finding herself pushed aside by sponsors as the spotlight turns to the younger generation.

Maybe she just wants to lead a normal life after being a tennis gypsy since she was a kid.

"I do believe tennis is a young game," she said. "Definitely the younger, the better. They have more attention, more sponsors and all that stuff. You look at other sports, and you can peak later on in your life.

"But we start the game so long and you have to have a very focused life-style. You have no off-season. How long are you willing to sacrifice that stuff?

"It's easier for guys. They can have their wives and kids travel with them. For women it's a lot tougher for a lot of different reasons. In my case, I've always said I'm just going to play competitively for as long as I enjoy it, as long as my body lets me play.

"When the time will come for me to retire, I have no idea. It could come after this tournament, or two years after this tournament. I have no idea. But I do know one thing. I'll play tennis for ever because it's a sport that I love.

"I've been very lucky to actually make a living at it and not just have it as a hobby while I have another job," she said.

The win keeps Venus on course for a showdown with sister Serena, as the season's final last slam appears headed toward yet another all-Williams final.

"I feel it's best for me to meet Serena in the final," said Venus, who disposed of her sister in straight sets last year to retain her U.S. Open crown. "I want to see her do her best and I would like to see me do my best."

Since the 2001 U.S. Open final, it is Serena's best that has been better, defeating her older sister and both the French Open and Wimbledon finals this year.

Following a narrow three-set escape against Chanda Rubin a day earlier, a worried Williams immediately returned to the practice court with father and coach Richard.

The results were on full display for another large crowd at the Arthur Ashe stadium, including younger sister Serena, as a ruthless and relentless Williams broke Seles at the first opportunity and again to surge in front 4-1 to take control of the opening set.

In an awesome display of power, the statuesque Williams lost just one point on her serve, ripping through the first set in 25 minutes.

"I was able to get a lot of pace on first serve," offered a subdued Williams, whose assault included five aces. "It's really satisfying to know that I've been able to work hard to be able to get to this level where I can play this well against a player like Monica."

In eight career meetings Williams had walked away the winner seven times but Seles confidence would have been boosted by her quarter-final victory earlier this year at the Australian Open.

Some of that confidence final began to emerge in the second set as Seles steadied herself; her two-handed groundstrokes began to find their mark.

NO BREAKS

But Seles, U.S. Open champion in 1991 and 1991, could not find a way to break the second seed.

Following a brief lull and level at 3-3, Williams again turned up the pressure on Seles sweeping the final three games to wrap up the contest in 57 minutes.

"I think the match tells it all, I think I had one break point," said Seles. "She just served too well, I couldn't read it all. It was just too strong.

"She is one of the toughest players for me to play.

"Each time I go into a match I know it's tough because she has her weapons that make it difficult for me.

"You know, when someone is serving 115 mph, it's tough to return no matter how well you're playing."

Williams will next meet 10th seeded Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo, who prevented the semi-finals from being an all-American affair with her upset win over Australian Open champion Jennifer Capriati.

The other semi-finals sees Wimbledon and French Open champion Serena Williams face Lindsay Davenport the last non-Williams to win at Flushing Meadows when she lifted the title in 1998.

"I'm ready already," said Williams, who is perfect 4-0 against the muscular Frenchwoman. "We've had some great matches.

"I've played her twice this year, I played her in Paris and it was real close and I played her in Antwerp, the first set was close.

"I just don't like to lose that often. I've been able to play just a little bit better. I guess that's it."

Seles was captivated by the two youngsters slugging it out somewhere in the ozone of rerun-land.

"One of the best matches, I think, in women's tennis," Seles decided.

She had never seen much of this match, although she had played in it. She was not quite 18, and Jennifer Capriati had just turned 15, and they both turned it on as if there were no tomorrow, which for both of them would almost be the case.

"Fun to see Jennifer and I hit the ball," Seles said yesterday. "One of the first matches that the ball was hit hard. Now you look, it's being hit harder."
• 

She and Capriati are both working on their reborn careers, but the ball goes faster now. Yesterday Seles outlasted a shaky Martina Hingis, 6-4, 6-2, to reach the quarterfinals of the United States Open, against Venus Williams, who hits harder than anybody, except, of course, her sister Serena.

Seles says she can live with the faster game as personified by the Williams sisters. But the tape from 1991 reminded her, most graphically, that she was once the best female player in the world.

On Sept. 6, 1991, in a semifinal at the Open, Seles held on in the third-set tie breaker, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (3). Writing in The New York Times, Robin Finn called the match "a slugfest conducted by a pair of teenagers whose strokes defied age, gender and the legal speed limit."

In the final, Seles beat Martina Navratilova for her fourth victory in a Grand Slam event. Seles would win four more before a man put a knife between her shoulder blades during a match in Germany in 1993.

"I was playing very well, those two, three years before my stabbing," Seles said. "You know, I guess, dominating the sport at that stage."

She said it with a mature smile, not looking for sympathy, just using that ghastly moment as a point of reference for when her world changed.

The fans know the story. They shout, "Come on, Monica!" remembering the goofy teenager with the Woody Woodpecker laugh and the killer backhand. Now she has become a gallant quarterfinalist.

"The game has changed," she said. "I mean, the game went for a very stagnant period from '93 to '96," when she was recuperating.

"In '97 the girls started to get bigger, stronger, faster," Seles added, referring to the year the Williams sisters arrived. "You see the girls now are 6 feet tall, everyone has a 100-mile-per-hour serve — that's the lowest. It's changing. It's so much more even now. Anybody on any given day can beat most of the top players. That's why it's so exciting."

Seles beat Venus Williams in Australia in January, but Hingis, who beat Seles in the semifinals in Australia, said yesterday: "But Venus has gotten better since then. Wasn't injured or anything. I don't know. I mean, you can't compare my game right now to Venus's."

Even if that is true, Seles can live with it. She has more trouble with people dropping the retirement question on her.

"Each time I say it, people just roll their eyes," she said, until the questioner promised he would not roll his eyes.

"O.K.," Seles said. "I really never played tennis for winning the Grand Slam or to be No. 1 and stuff like that. Maybe it was a very naοve thought to it. Maybe. I don't know. But truly, it's not the driving force in me today.

"I love to play tennis. I said it many times. I wish we didn't have to go out there and win and lose, because that is very tough emotionally. If you win a tournament, next week you have to kind of play again. You never get time to enjoy it."
• 

She finally got to enjoy that 1991 semifinal on rainy Labor Day 2002. She said, "It was fun to see that, just to see even my dad's reaction to certain points, which, you know, at that stage during a match you never realize it."

Her father, Karolj, who taught her to play in a parking lot back home in Yugoslavia, died four years ago, but there he was on Monday, rooting for his daughter.

How good were you on television? somebody asked. "I was very good," Seles said, almost giggling, eliciting warm laughter.

What about the outfits and the hairstyles of 1991? Seles grunted as loudly as she does on the court. The past is mostly for reruns during rain delays.

Advancing to final eight for the ninth time in 12 visits to the Open, Seles will next meet twice defending champion Venus Williams.

"You've got to just play your game against Venus," said Seles, looking forward to her match with the world number two.

"Venus has a fantastic serve and great movement, those are her strengths.

"But I've got to play her just the same as anyone else.

"The key is serves. Her serve is obviously powerful and she'll hold her games easier than I will."

For 1997 champion Hingis, it was her earliest exit since her first appearance at Flushing Meadow as a fresh-faced 14-year-old prodigy in 1995.

Having clashed 19 times, Hingis winning 15, the pair stepped on to a sun-kissed Arthur Ashe stadium court looking to turn around campaigns interrupted by injuries.

Winner at Flushing Meadows in 1991 and 1992, Seles got the match off to a bright start by breaking Hingis at the first opportunity.

Playing in just her third event since returning to the Tour following ankle surgery, Hingis would quickly get back on serve with a break to go 2-2 but the Swiss could not find any rhythm and her shots lacked confidence and conviction.

Seles, grunting and firing away from the baseline, stepped up the pressure in the second set as Hingis unraveled with back-to-back breaks to fall behind 5-2.

But ninth seed Hingis would not surrender quietly and Seles, who has played in just one Tour event since Wimbledon because of foot problems, needed five match points before finally finishing off the Swiss in exactly one hour.

At her post-match press conference, Seles once again spent much of her time denying reports that this was her final U.S. Open and would retire next season.

"It's been front page news that I'm retiring but I still enjoy playing tennis, I'm still playing at a very high level so I don't know where this is coming from," said the nine-times grand slams winner.

"Let us play as long as we want to play and when we're tired of the traveling, the competition we'll retire.

"The day I don't want to put in effort -- and it's very life and death right now -- I'll say this is it.

Facing qualifier Yoon-Jeong Cho of South Korea, who had never defeated a top 20 player, Seles cruised through Saturday's first set 6-1 and was up 5-1 in the second.

At 0-30 on Cho's serve, Seles was two points away from a ho-hum victory, the kind that was once so routine for the former No. 1 player in the world. She was twice a winner of this final Grand Slam of the season.

But those championships and that ranking, were a lifetime ago for Seles who, at age 28, struggles with her game from week to week, never quite knowing how she will play.

Sometimes, the struggle is from set to set.

She was in trouble in the second round of the Open, dropping the first set to Barbara Schwartz of Austria, two points away from losing the match in a second-set tiebreak, before recovering to win it.

Against Cho, it was the exact opposite with Seles in position to complete an easy victory instead of being forced into a frantic comeback. But suddenly, it turned into another crisis for her.

With the wind swirling on center court, Cho made one point, then another and the match turned. She strung five straight winning games together to take the set before Seles recovered in time to salvage the match.

So what happened?

"It's not something I'm happy about," Seles said as she tried to explain the meltdown. "My brain went away from the court. It just went away. Definitely checked out of the tennis court. Lesson learned."

Part of it, Seles said, were Cho's slowball serves. Part of it was a lack of power on her own returns. All of it was disturbing to the former champion.

Seles had played Cho before. She recalled a tough two-setter in Japan. She knew this player could be trouble. For a long time Saturday, though, there was no trouble at all.

"I was actually surprised how easy things were," Seles said. "But definitely, I thought of that too soon."

After letting the second set get away with 21 unforced errors, Seles restored order and won the match to advance to the round of 16. At that stage, there are no more qualifiers on the other side of the net. Lapses like the one that occurred against Cho are frequently not forgiven.

That left Seles reflecting on what had happened.

"It's always great to pull through matches, but at the same time ... definitely I'm not playing as well as I would have liked to," she said. "The games that I lost went by really fast. I tightened up a little bit out there on my serve. I just was getting a little bit frustrated with myself. I was just happy that I could calm myself down and not kind of lose it out there mentally."

Then she brightened a bit.

"But Monday, it's a new ballgame," she said. "It's a different level of match you have to play."

It will have to be a better level for Seles to remain in this tournament.

Supported warmly by fans on a cold, damp night, the American Seles regrouped after being two points from defeat and reached the U.S. Open's third round by beating Barbara Schwartz of Austria 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2 Thursday.

"It's a great feeling at this stage of my career," said the sixth-seeded Seles, who won the U.S. Open in 1991 and 1992. "The crowd pulled me through tonight's match, big time. I came out very flat. The conditions were tough. She is a tough opponent to play. She doesn't give you any rhythm."

She had 25 unforced errors to 18 winners in the first two sets. The ratio was six errors to 14 winners in the third.

Schwartz needed just two points to close out the match at 5-5 in the tiebreaker.

"She was not fully in the game at the moment. I was playing maybe the best tennis I can play," said Schwartz, who beat Seles in straight sets in a Fed Cup match in April. In the latter stages of the match, the Austrian said, "She tried more, she was hitting harder."

Seles owns nine Grand Slam tournament titles, a total which very likely would have been higher had she not been off the tour for more than two years after being stabbed during a match in Germany in 1993.

Seles hasn't been to a major final since the 1998 French Open, but she doesn't have definitive ideas about how much longer she'll play.

"My life is very complicated even right now today, sitting here. I just really love the game. It's so simple for me. As a little girl, that's why I started," Seles said.

How long will she stay on tour?

"As long as I can compete professionally, and I'm happy at that level, injury-free," she said.

Seles, who is the winner of 53 career singles titles including nine Grand Slams, now faces Barbara Schwartz of Austria in the second round.

Seles, ranked fourth in the world, was injured during a practice last Saturday.

Among those competing in the JPMorgan Chase Open at the Manhattan Country Club will be No. 1-ranked Serena Williams, defending champion Lindsay Davenport and Australian Open winner Jennifer Capriati.

The singles champion will earn $93,000 from a total purse of $585,000.