The last time Monica Seles and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario met in a French Open final, most of their current rivals on the women's circuit were too young to watch.
Now the fourth-seeded Spaniard and sixth-seeded American will battle it out again on the centre court today, seven years after their last clash in a Roland Garros final, and the match looks like a sweet revenge for the old guard.
On June 8th, 1991, when Seles beat the Spaniard 6-3 6-4 to win the second of her three consecutive titles here, world number one Martina Hingis, American rising star Venus Williams and Russian Anna Kournikova were 10.
Ironically for their young rivals, today's final will be played by the two youngest winners on the Parisian clay. Seles was 16 years and six months old when she won here in 1990, while Sanchez was 17 years and five months old when she beat Steffi Graf in 1989.
History favours the American. In their 16 past encounters, Seles has won all but two, and Sanchez Vicario has never beaten her Yugoslav-born opponent on clay. Neither will topple current top player Hingis in the WTA rankings by winning here, but both may already feel that they have beaten time and age by just playing this match.
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