By Etienne Stekelenburg
May 15 2004

Tennis veteran Martina Navratilova received a wild card for the French Open singles competition. At her request she was granted the wild and card making her singles comeback at Roland Garros after 10 years. At the age of 47 she is preparing herself on a clay court in Europe. It's 20 years ago since tennis legend Martina Navratilova won her last title in Paris at the French Open. Tournament director Stéphane Simian explained that this was the reason to hand Navratilova the wild card, “as one of the tennis all-time greats, Martina surely deserves the privilege”.

Last month at Amelia Island Navratilova made her singles comeback. She played her last Grand Slam match at Wimbledon when she lost in against Conchita Martinez in the 1994 final. Leaving for the very last time she pulled out a tuft of center court grass for a keepsake.

Another tennis legend had to call off her appearance at the French Open. Thirty-year-old Monica Seles still suffers from a stress fracture in her left foot. It has been a year ago, at the French Open, since she played her last match. When she will return is not certain. “If I come back, I want to come back in every sense”, Monica Seles said about her return to the courts.

“I am an impatient person and I need to come back slowly and see how my food holds in practice”. Seles does not want to push it with the possibility of re-injure her foot.