Seles Reveals a Tough Foe

The opponent was unpredictable, sneaky and, worse yet, known for its endurance.

And so, the woman who had an answer for so many opponents on the court through the years -- Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Steffi Graf, to name a few -- often found herself unable to respond against this invisible foe.

For years, Monica Seles, winner of nine Grand Slam singles titles, suffered from migraines. They plagued her for the better part of the ‘90s, starting when she was a teenager, and she went undiagnosed until late in 1997.

Seles spoke publicly Tuesday for the first time about her previous struggle and current solution -- she takes prescription migraine-specific medicine at the first sign of a symptom -- and conducted a series of media interviews, kicking off a new initiative, Acing Migraine Pain.

“I don’t know if you know of anyone who has migraines and who has experienced them, you just know your whole day is pretty much gone, once you get it,” Seles said Tuesday in a telephone interview from New York. “And it’s very unpredictable. For me, it’s brought on by stress or just a crazy type of schedule.”

Oh, and everyone knows how little stress there is before playing in the French Open final.

Seles said she was stricken with migraines during the intense fortnights of Grand Slam tournaments and remembered having to withdraw from a couple of WTA tournaments before she was diagnosed. She missed more than two years of competition in the mid-’90s, recovering from the physical and mental anguish of her 1993 stabbing by a deranged German fan of Graf.

No one ever knew that Seles was burdened by even more problems she could not control.

“It affected me in tennis, where I would have to play a match, or a lot of times in practice, just having to cancel, and also just with my friends,” Seles said of the migraines. “If you go out and get it, you don’t want to leave your room, you just want darkness and quiet.”

Seles sat out most of another season last year, but not because of headaches. Instead, she was sidelined by a stress fracture in her left foot.

She played in only seven tournaments in 2003 and has been out of action since losing in the first round at the French Open in May. She has her foot in a soft cast, has had five MRI exams, with No. 6 coming up a week from today. If there is not sufficient progress, she will spend eight more weeks in a cast.

Her aim is to return in time for the European clay-court season, and she is hoping to be ready for an exhibition match against Navratilova on March 22 in Richmond, Va. But nothing is certain. “It’s been hard because all the other players are injured too -- it would have been a pretty good time to play,” she said, laughing. “It’s amazing how many players are actually injured. I’m at the latter stage, the end stage of my career, and so these girls are in the middle of it.”

Desert Update

Seles obviously won’t be ready in time for Indian Wells next month, and Amelie Mauresmo of France remains a question mark. Mauresmo has not played since defaulting before her quarterfinal match at the Australian Open in January because of a back injury.

Another player with a long-term back injury, Jennifer Capriati, was set to return to the tour this week in Dubai and is expected to appear at Indian Wells.

First-round women’s action at Indian Wells will start March 10, on Wednesday, and the men begin two days later. But the big names on the men’s side won’t kick into action until the first weekend -- March 13-14 -- because of first-round byes.

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THE TIMES’ RANKINGS

LISA DILLMAN’S COMMENTS AND RANKINGS

*--* WOMEN Rk. Player Comment 1 JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE Tense Belgian coexistence seems almost like Shaq and Kobe. 2 KIM CLIJSTERS Compiling a very impressive number of non-Grand Slam titles (21). 3 AMELIE MAURESMO Will her legacy be limited to one Slam final in 1999? 4 LINDSAY DAVENPORT Has won at least one title every year, except 2001, starting in 1993. 5 ANASTASIA MYSKINA Won most singles titles, four, of the Russian women in 2003. 6 VENUS WILLIAMS Comeback road (again) begins today vs. Alicia Molik in Dubai. 7 SERENA WILLIAMS Spotted sitting courtside -- of an NBA court, not tennis. 8 JENNIFER CAPRIATI First match since November -- playing E. Daniilidou today at Dubai. 9 MARY PIERCE Welcome back. Reached first final since winning French Open in 2000. 10 “ER” With all the injuries, this show should become a tour sponsor in 2004. MEN 1 ROGER FEDERER Amazingly, Tim Henman seems to have his number above the others. 2 MARAT SAFIN Short rest for the weary -- returned in Marseille and twisted ankle. 3 ANDY RODDICK Could play close to home, at Delray Beach, Fla., for Davis Cup quarterfinals. 4 ANDRE AGASSI Suffered rare loss to an American not named Sampras at San Jose. 5 DAVID NALBANDIAN Forced out at Buenos Aires last week because of ankle injury. 6 LLEYTON HEWITT Biggest feat in 2004 -- winning doubles match with his 35-year-old coach. 7 JUAN CARLOS FERRERO Lost to the resurgent Hewitt in Rotterdam final in three sets. 8 GUILLERMO CORIA Has won 20 consecutive matches on clay, dating to French Open semis. 9 TIM HENMAN Good matchup: Federer on other side of net. Bad matchup: Hewitt. 10 MARDY FISH Fist pumping -- or is that Fish pumping? -- seemed to irritate Agassi.

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