The Umpteenth Comeback
The latest comeback has been completely different. At the same time, it has been completely remarkable, astonishing and pleasing to see one of the true champions of the game, both on and off court, rise above her critics who called her a washed-up has-been, unable to beat the best nor become one of the best ever again. Over the past fortnight, she has certainly proved them wrong.
The last layoff seems to have done wonders for Monica’s game. It appears that she has found the motivation to work harder on her tennis and her fitness and seems to have regained the determination – the steely eyed ferocity – that won her her previous nine Grand Slam titles. Perhaps she is ready for her tenth sometime soon, given the form that she has displayed over the past fortnight. Not only is she more fit and more determined, she also seems to have gotten over the mental block which hindered her from playing her best against the higher ranked players (perhaps as a result of her improved fitness).
Her run started in San Diego when she beat the world #2 Jennifer Capriati 6-3 6-3, completely demolishing the in-form player of the season and handing Capriati her most lopsided loss of the season – astonishing. Unfortunately, Jennifer couldn’t allow Monica the full happiness of the victory, crying foul play (more like sour grapes) when she berated Seles’s grunting as being louder than it ever has been, going so far as to request an official to monitor the noise. Much could be said about the incident although much has been reported on it already, and that this article is to celebrate the return of Monica - the Monica that most of the current players have only seen and admired but never played. Thankfully, there is much more to celebrate in the return of Monica. She did not let the hoohah of the previous day distract her as she beat world #1 Martina Hingis 6-3 6-4, finally gaining a measure of revenge on the player who has been a thorn in Monica’s backside for far too long and erasing memories of an 8 match losing streak against her (and the cutting memories of the 6-0 6-0 loss at Miami last year).
The magical run continued on to the next stop in Los Angeles when Monica saved 6 match points (three in a row on two separate
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