Kim Clijsters mounting a comeback – Will it be all that and more?

That Kim Clijsters is to come out of retirement and that the announcement should send such a ripple of excitement through the worldwide tennis community confirms the recent suspicions about the lack of depth in the women’s field and the malarkey of its starlets. Save for Serena and Venus Williams– the only top ten seeds to have negotiated a position in the Sony Ericsson Open semis and thereby saved a major event from what would have been otherwise disappointing fate – the women’s field is in complete disarray.

But is a Clijsters comeback the answer to the disarray in the women’s game. Might not Justine Henin’s comeback be a more suitable answer— I am not alone in flirting with this notion. (Justine: If you are reading this, think about it. I hear the French Open is looking for a new queen by the way. Seriously.)

It is the other Belgian though that has made the announcement (for now at least – hope springs eternal) so I guess we should look at her reinstatement into the women’s field more closely.

The former world No.1 and one-time Grand Slam champion (2005 US Open) retired in May 2007 at 23-yearsof age, citing a lack of desire to compete and a wish to start a family. Clijsters won 34 WTA tournaments and 11 doubles crowns during her career. She held the No.1 ranking for 19 weeks.

Now at 25-years-old Clijsters is eager to come back to the sport. “The desire is back,” said Kim Clijsters to reporters. Clijsters is intending to make her official comeback at a WTA event in Toronto and Cincinnati in early August, warm-up events to the US Open where she will also be expecting to compete. She promises her return is going to be a serious and competitive bid and not a short-term stance after just one or two rounds.

Lindsay Davenport came out of retirement late 2007 but the thirty something veteran met with limited success– if winning minor titles could be called that. Recurring injuries held her back as well. Martina Hingis also mounted a comeback in 2006 and met with some measure of success but the Swiss disappeared amidst some controversy a few years ago. She also had several old injuries resurface and make her comeback a trial.

So what fate awaits Kim Clijsters. No one really knows and well, neither does she come to that. Clijsters has refused to make any commitments beyond the three wild cards she accepted—for Rogers Cup, Cincinnati and the US Open needing to make an assessment at that stage. The reality is (lest we have all forgotten) her career was marred by a series of injuries, including to her hip and back. So even though the women’s field is not the most competitive – except for Serena Williams and Venus Williams for the most part – the WTA schedule is arduous and gruelling, the demands of the sport great. So for all the excitement the announcement of Clijsters return has caused, the real question is whether after such a long absence and with her history of injuries she can keep up.