If She’s Fit, Seles Has a Believer in King

Merely talking with Billie Jean King for a few minutes is motivational. You feel like putting the phone down, running out of the house and working on the forehand volley or some other errant stroke.

King, in person, holds immense powers of positive persuasion. At Wimbledon this year, she stopped her life of constant motion and held forth for a few minutes on the importance of the Williams sisters to the sport, women’s golf, women’s soccer and even demonstrated a shot or two. (She had been trying to get Venus Williams to mix up the placement of her forehand volley.)

More often than not, King is right. Which is why she is worth listening to when she started talking about Monica Seles the other day. King is the Fed Cup captain, and she announced that Seles will be joining No. 2-ranked Lindsay Davenport for the Fed Cup final Nov. 21-25 at Las Vegas.

She believes Seles is capable of winning another Grand Slam title if she is willing to make the physical commitment. Seles, who turns 27 in December, has battled a constant series of injuries the last couple of years. Her closest brush with another singles Slam in the last three years was reaching the French Open final in 1998, a few weeks after the death of her father and coach, Karolj.

“I personally told her to take at least a year and a half to get back up to steam,” King said. “She looked at me like I was crazy.”

Seles thought about the statement.

“She said, ‘You know, you’re right. I’ve been doing this since early this year, and I’m just now beginning to understand how much better shape I’m starting to get in,” King said.

King’s words would seem difficult to believe if you were on hand for Seles’ 6-0, 6-0 loss to No. 1-ranked Martina Hingis in Miami earlier this year. Seles, who has won nine Grand Slam singles titles, rarely loses to lower ranked players but has not been able to defeat those ahead of her, such as Hingis, Davenport and Venus and Serena Williams.

But the clay in Paris could be the difference. Two of the last three winners of the French Open are Mary Pierce (2000) and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (1998). It is not inconceivable Seles could crack that sort of lineup again. She has defeated Hingis at the French before, and it is not the best surface for Davenport or the Williams sisters.

“I think she definitely has a major left in her,” King said. “I think the belief factor is really important for Monica. I know it’s starting to flicker. It flickers in and out. She’ll get a glimmer of it, she’ll hold on to that belief for a few moments, it will come back, fade. Now it’s starting to grow and come back stronger, bubbling up, where she is now truly starting to believe in herself again. She’s very excited about playing again. She enjoys it again.”

Seles has assembled a respected team: tennis coach Bobby Banck, fitness coach Bob Kersee and a personal chef. Lately, Seles has been off the tour because of a foot injury. She took advantage of the break to travel in Europe with her mother, Esther.

King also has spoken to Davenport, who has been fighting a foot injury but won the title at Linz, Austria, recently, ending Venus Williams’ 35-match winning streak.

“She said her foot’s feeling so much better,” King said. “Of course, I’m always talking to her about Fed Cup, what her thoughts are. She says, ‘Don’t worry, Billie, we’re going to win.’ She’s in a good place right now.”

ROGER, OVER AND OUT

Dominik Hrbaty, the smiling Slovak, certainly knew his audience. Playing the indoor event in Basel, Switzerland, Hrbaty warmed up the crowd before he played doubles early in the tournament with Roger Federer against Americans Alex O’Brien and Jared Palmer.

Hrbaty, a French Open semifinalist, wrote a few words on a towel and displayed it to the crowd. The words?

“Roger Is My Hero.”

Smart move. The fast-rising Federer, who turned 19 in August, was born in Basel and lost to Thomas Enqvist in a five-set final on Sunday.

Oh, as for Hrbaty . . . Hrbaty and Federer beat the third-seeded O’Brien and Palmer, 6-3, 6-2.

SPEAKING OF BASEL . . .

The second-largest city in Switzerland will host next year’s first-round Davis Cup match between the United States and Switzerland. Instead of one week after the Australian Open, the first round is two weeks later, Feb. 9-11.

This means that three of the four matches under U.S. captain John McEnroe will have been played on the road. The lone home event was the quarterfinals against the Czech Republic at the Great Western Forum.

Basel. Santander, Spain. Harare, Zimbabwe.

Just call it: Around the world with Mac.

AND SPEAKING OF MAC . . .

The USTA sent out e-mails the other day about the political candidacy of one John McEnroe.

Doesn’t this guy have enough to do?

There’s the Davis Cup, the senior tour, the BBC, and seemingly nearly every other network on the planet. And, yes, as much as McEnroe likes to talk--and wouldn’t politics be the perfect landing spot?--there is another John McEnroe running for office.

You cannot be serious.

Hold on. It is John McEnroe, Libertarian candidate for Oregon state representative in District 14.