Kim Clijsters announces comeback

News

Former world number 1, Kim Clijsters of Belgium, gave a press conference to announce her return to competitive tennis after two years from retirement.

The 2005 US Open winner will be playing some exhibition matches from May to July (including an exhibition against Steffi Graf and a doubles exhibition with Tim Henman against Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi under the new roof at Wimbledon, an exhibition against Michaella Krajicek at the Ordina Open and participation in the WorldTeam Tennis Pro League). She will then be playing in tournaments in Cincinnati and Toronto, before competing in the US Open. She is also expected to play in Antwep at the end of the year.

Clijsters quit professional tennis in 2007, and since then, she has married basketball player Brian Lynch, and gave birth to their first child, Jada.


How successful will this comeback be?


There are a number of factors which may affect the successfulness of this comeback.


Mental frailty

The biggest issue that Clijsters has in the past is her mental frailty, especially at big events. Who could ever forget the number of matches she lost at big stages due to her mental breakdown, such as her loss in the third set 12-10 to Jennifer Capriati in the 2001 French Open final where there were four times where she was within 2 points from winning the title, as well as the 2003 Australian Open semifinals, where she was leading 5-1 in the third set and held a match point at 5-2 against Serena Williams, before losing that match 7-5 in the third. To be able to be successful in her comeback, she will need to overcome this aspect of her game, so as not to give her opponents any chances or opportunities.


Focus

Being a mother now means that her attention may be divided between her family and her career. To be able to be part of the elite group of players, she will need to be completely focused on her game, or otherwise, she will be easily overtaken by the aggressive hungry youngsters.

There is doubt as to whether she is fully focused in this comeback. It is only 2 years ago when she made the followings statement during her announcement of retirement:

"Time to marry. Time for children? Time for cooking and playing with my dogs. And particularly a lot of time with my friends and family. No more travelling. No more stepping in and out of planes. No more having to read gossip or lies in the papers."

It is only recently, while during her practice for the Wimbledon exhibition, that she rediscovered her drive and challenge for the game again. Whether this focus can be sustained is yet to be seen.


Previous comeback

Clijsters has previously made a successful comeback in 2005, after a year of inactivity plagued by injuries. That year, she was able to win her lone Grand Slam, the US Open. Therefore, she knows what she needs to do in order to succeed on the tour.


Emotional drive

Her sole Grand Slam win in 2005 came at an emotional time for her, as her relationship with Lleyton Hewitt ended around that time. Her father has recently died, and this may be the emotional drive that may help her to succeed in her current comeback.


Conclusion

The current state of women's tennis seems to be the most opened in years, with no one dominant player, as evidenced by the fact that four different women have attained the number 1 ranking after the retirement of Justine Henin last year. This is a perfect time for Clijsters to return to the tour, and will present her with opportunities to succeed.

However, as we can see from the comeback of another mother, Lindsay Davenport, it is difficult to return to the height of the game once a player is a mother. Davenport's most recent comeback has been successful on one level, as she won a number of lower tiered tournaments, but she was never a threat at any of the majors.

Therefore, given the question mark over Clijsters' mental frailty and focus in this comeback, it is more likely that Clijsters will find success in some tournaments, but will never be viewed as a threat to win a major title.

Whether she succeeds or not, her return is good for the fans and the game of womens tennis.