There are three nations with at least two players in the top 16 of the WTA rankings. Most tennis fans will be aware that Russia and the US are well represented, but the fact that Belgium, with Kim Clijsters and Yanina Wickmayer, has two players in this list is probably not as well known.
Soon there could be three Belgians in the top 16. Justine Henin has returned to the tour with a bang, competing in the Brisbane International where she lost a thrilling final to compatriot comeback queen Clijsters.
Around the same time Wickmayer was winning the ASB Classic in Auckland, so it is probably wise not to deliver the old line ‘name a famous Belgian’ near a tennis fan at the moment. Suffice to say that in the coming season these players will keep cropping up in the latter stages of tournaments.
In Brisbane Henin proved that she, like Clijsters, still has the ability to compete at the big events. The fact that two fully retired players can return and quickly rise to the top of the rankings might not say much about the strength of the women’s game, but fans should ignore this and enjoy the rivalries that will ensue this year. The increased competition should also make tennis betting more interesting.
Henin generally had the better of her meetings with her compatriot, winning all three of their Grand Slam final showdowns, but it is not just Clijsters who will be motivated by the return of the seven-time Grand Slam winner. Serena Williams has got used to having things her own way, so the return of Henin, coming so soon after Clijsters dumped her out of a US Open semi-final, is bound to energise the world number one further.
This is good for the game as no player, apart from Elena Dementieva at Wimbledon, came close to challenging Serena at the non-clay Grand Slams last season. Henin has reached two Wimbledon finals and is capable of breaking the Williams sisters’ stranglehold on the famous Rosewater Dish.
If fit, Henin will be a real threat at the Australian Open and while it is perhaps too much to expect another fairytale comeback win we should not be surprised if we see plenty of Belgians in the latter stages at Melbourne, something that should be reflected in the Australian Open odds.
