15 January 2010 / AP, MELBOURNE
French veteran Fabrice Santoro will play in his 70th Grand Slam tournament at next week’s Australian Open, extending his career into a fourth decade.
Santoro, who was 16 when he took part in his first major at the 1989 French Open, retired last year after a farewell at an event in Paris. But the 37-year-old Santoro said the lure was too strong for one more appearance in the Australian Open, where he reached the quarterfinals in 2006 and won the doubles events in 2003 and 2004. “It was going to be my last match in Paris, but I couldn’t resist to be in Melbourne,” Santoro told Australian Associated Press on Thursday. “The invitation came to me and I said, Oh, I just want to go there, buy my ticket, practice a few weeks and play the Australian Open one more time.” Santoro was proud of his longevity given the way tennis had changed during his career.
