Navratilova-Seles Match Still On Despite Martina’s Groin Injury

Hobbled or not, Martina Navratilova “fully intends” to play Monica Seles in their exhibition match Saturday in Atlantic City, N.J.

“Although I do have a groin injury and am not used to being injured, I do heal very quickly,” Navratilova said Wednesday.

Navratilova, 38, retired from singles play on the WTA Tour last November. Her nationally televised match Saturday will be Seles’ first since she was stabbed in the back by a spectator in April 1993 in Hamburg, Germany.

Seles has entered the U.S. Open and her match against Navratilova is the first in what figures to be a series of tuneups.

Navratilova also has been playing singles in World Team Tennis. She originally injured her groin Friday night in a WTT match against Sacramento and aggravated it last Saturday in a match against Charlotte.

Pete Sampras, in his first match since winning his third consecutive Wimbledon title, beat Jonathan Stark 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the second round of the Canadian Open in Montreal. Andre Agassi cruised to a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Jeff Tarango.

The International Tennis Federation confirmed it is considering setting up a men’s professional tour to compete with the ATP Tour circuit.

The ITF said it was in discussions with an unidentified organization which would “financially support, promote and market a more focused and understandable tour which would also produce higher prize money levels for the players.

ITF president Brian Tobin said the federation did not want to create further divisions in the sport and would like to cooperate with the ATP Tour if possible.