Editor's note: On Aug. 17, Ravi Ubha began unveiling the top 10 reasons to watch the 2009 U.S. Open. Check back each weekday until Aug. 28 as we count down to No. 1.
No. 6: Kimmy's return to the court
It says much about the women's game that Kim Clijsters came back after a two-year hiatus and toppled Marion Bartoli, Patty Schnyder and Svetlana Kuznetsova in succession last week in Cincinnati. Sure those three are erratic, but they're also supposed to be top-20 players -- much higher in Kuzy's case.
Remove the majestic Roger Federer for that long, and even the Swiss would struggle against top-20 men's folk on a comeback. Heck, Federer toiled big-time versus a Canadian journeyman at the Montreal Masters after returning from a one-month layoff, then unthinkably blew a 5-1 third-set lead a few days later to the go-for-broke Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Yes, Clijsters probably had more motivation and sleep in Cincinnati than Federer, a new dad to twin girls, had in Montreal.
Clijsters' re-emergence is good for just about everyone: She's a familiar face that fans, sponsors and tournament directors love. The women's tour wasted little time in getting the Belgian out there. She featured in a promo event, along with Elena Dementieva, at a nearby amusement park surrounded by cooling water fountains. Oh, yes, a mom on the tour is a nice little story, too, although Lindsay Davenport and lesser-known Austrian Sybille Bammer beat her to the punch.
Perhaps we're not giving Clijsters enough praise for downing Bartoli, Schnyder and Kuznetsova. Bartoli was coming off a title in Stanford, Calif., where she battled past Venus Williams in the finale. Clijsters, as gritty on court as she is personable off it, also led current No. 1 Dinara Safina in both sets before falling in the Cincinnati quarterfinals 6-2, 7-5. And at the Rogers Cup in Toronto this week, Clijsters notched the biggest win of her comeback, eliminating the fearless Belorussian Victoria Azarenka. The Belgian, however, lost a tight three-setter to 2008 year-end No. 1 Jelena Jankovic in the third round.
Clijsters, like Davenport, re-entered with an aura, having been a No. 1 and Grand Slam winner.
"She's a great player," Safina said. "You cannot lose your talent."
Clijsters, like Maria Sharapova, won't be seeded at the U.S. Open. Here's hoping the former U.S. Open champions avoid each other in the first round and go deep.
Ravi Ubha is a London-based journalist. He holds a business degree from McGill University and a journalism diploma from Concordia University, both in Montreal, where he formerly covered baseball and hockey. Ubha is a tennis and soccer contributor to ESPN.com, also featuring in other publications, and does play-by-play in tennis.
Kamakshi Tandon is a freelance writer and tennis junkie who contributes regularly to ESPN. She has also written for Tennis magazine, Reuters and Dow Jones Newswires. Tandon is based in Toronto.
Sandra Harwitt, a graduate of New York University's School of Journalism, covers tennis for various media outlets. Harwitt has been accepted to pursue a part-time master of science in strategic communications at Columbia University. She is based in South Florida and New York.
Matt Wilansky is the tennis editor for ESPN.com. He joined ESPN in 1998 after graduating with a B.A. in communication from the University of Hartford.
