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 he was honored at an event in Paris.
But the 37-year-old Frenchman said the lure was too strong for one more appearance in the Australian Open, where he reached the quarterfinals in 2006.
``It was going to be my last match in Paris, but I couldn't resist to be in Melbourne,'' Santoro, who is still ranked No. 68, said this week. ``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.'
``When I started in '89 I remember my father said `OK, it's good you're professional, you play the big events and try to play for three, four, five years.' This is my 22nd year, so never I thought I would be able to play that long at that level.''
Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said Santoro, for whom there was a farewell ceremony at Melbourne Park last year, had offered to donate his first-round prize money to charity.
Santoro opens against No. 14-seeded Marin Cilic, a 21-year-old Croatian with four career titles.
Santoro is proud of his longevity given the way tennis had changed during his career, which has included 470 wins and 443 losses on the ATP tour, six singles titles and more than $10 million in prize money.
``The players are so strong now compared with a long time ago, the rackets have changed, the speed of the game has changed a lot and when I look at the matches I played 22 years ago and now, it's two different sports,'' he said.
``But I was able to improve my game and change my game to be professional and it was a lot of work and I'm proud about it.''
When Santoro started out in 1989, Ivan Lendl finished the year at No. 1 and Pete Sampras had yet to win any of his eventual 14 Grand Slam titles.
John McEnroe, who won seven Grand Slam singles titles in a career spanning 1977-1992, attended the draw for the Australian Open on Friday and was surprised to hear about Santoro's comeback.
``I thought he retired?'' McEnroe asked as he discussed the Cilic-Santoro match. ``He asked me to play doubles with him in the U.S. Open. Told me it was his last tournament. Now here he is, he's unretired for the seventh time!''
Santoro said he's serious about his appearance at Melbourne Park.
``I want to be competitive, I (have been) working hard for a few weeks to be ready for one more Grand Slam,'' he said.
``I know that a Grand Slam match can go to five hours and I'm 37, so it's tough, especially in Melbourne where the temperature can be over 40 degrees.
``I want to play one more match for sure, I would like to win and then I would be out on the big stage, out there playing with a smile.''
