Tying the Knot

Love is in the air!

Roger Federer recently wed his long-time girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec in his hometown of Basel, while Andy Roddick and his fiancée, Brooklyn Decker, exchanged vows in a candlelit ceremony before close family and friends in Austin, Texas.

Both top players, who could have chosen lavish ceremonies and celebrations for their momentous events, opted for a low-key simple gatherings with close family and friends. Such a choice may be a reflection of the humble nature of these players, or the fact that they did not want their personal life to take over the spot-light of their tennis careers.

In a world where materialism prevails, and people compete on all levels, it is encouraging to see these top tennis players bucking the trend, and sending a message to the world that love and happiness can exist through simplicity.

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.

Federer is going to be a father

News

Roger Federer, the current world number 2, announced on his website recently that he is going to be a father.

The Swiss star announced that his girlfriend, Mirka Vavrinec, who he met at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, is pregnant.

"Mirka and I are excited to let you know that we will be parents this summer! Mirka is pregnant and we are so happy to be starting a family together. This is a dream come true for us. We love children and we are looking forward to being parents for the first time. Mirka is feeling great and everything is going well."

After the announcement of this news, Federer expressed his excitement at his subsequent interview in Indian Wells, where he is currently playing a tournament:

"I mean, like I think in a way I always had the dream that once I became No. 1 in the world that if I have a child I hope I have it early enough so he can see me playing, you know. So this is very exciting, you know."

Federer also stated that this would not really affect his mindset to tennis "a whole lot".

Analysis

This new excitement in Federer's life may well bring him the stimulus he needs to regain this authority in the men's tennis game, as his child is now an added motivation for him to do well.

However, raising a child is a lot of hard work. Federer's mentality and focus will be divided between his family and his tennis.

Furthermore, history is also not on his side. In the Open Era, there are only six male tennis players who have won majors after becoming a father, being Boris Becker, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Pat Cash, Andres Gomez, Petr Korda (all of which won only one major after being a father) and Jimmy Connors (who won three majors after being a father).

With the intensity of Nadal's game, and his edge over Federer, and the fearless challengers in the form of Djokovic and Murray hot on the heels of Federer, it will be hard for Federer to regain his dominance at the slams, given the competing loyalties he now have between family and tennis.