Comeback Players of the Year

Kim Clijsters is the obvious choice for the comeback player of the year, on the womens side.  In 2007 Clijsters retired as a top 10 from tennis to "start a family".  Clijsters left the tennis world behind, got married and had a daughter in the 2 years she was away from the game.  Early this past year Clijsters announced that she was going to attempt to make a comeback on the WTA Tour.  This was going to be a "test-run" to see if she still had the skill to compete, and not make an embarrassment of herself.  Her comeback began in July at a U.S. Open series tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Clijsters upset top 10 player Marion Bartoli in the early rounds before she was eliminated in the quarterfinals.  This was the first step, to what was a miracle run at the U.S. Open.  Clijsters proved she still had some skill and talent left in her 26 year old body.  Going into the U.S. Open the perception was how nice of a story that she was back, and she'll probably win a couple matches, but she has so much rust to work off, and is she physically and mentally fit for the toll of a Grand Slam.  All good reasons for why Clijsters would not be much of a factor at Flushing Meadows.  But the Belgian, one match at a time made her way through a tough draw.  She had to beat Marion Bartoli in the 2nd round.  Then in the 4th round she was a huge underdog to Venus Williams.  After a hard fought match it was the comeback mom moving on to the quarterfinals.  Na Li didn't put up much of a fight in the quarterfinals, so now Clijsters had to face the defending champion and more manly Williams sister, Serena in the semifinals.  Everyone will look back at the classless tirade Serena pulled, getting her disqualified.  But in all reality Clijsters was straight up kicking her ass and was going to win that match regardless.  Just another player being overshadowed by a piece of shit Williams sister.  In the final Clijsters beat an upstart, young up-and-coming Dane, Caroline Wozniacki.  Capping off one of the most miraculous feats in tennis history.  With her championship win Clijsters rocketed from retirement and 2 years away from tennis to the #18 ranked woman on the planet, and a major factor come the 2010 season. 

I really struggled to come up with a mens comeback player of the year.  There was no real great stories like Kim Clijsters on the mens side.  The one player that stood out after a few minutes of thought was Lleyton Hewitt.  Early in 2008 Hewitt suffered a hip injury.  He had to pull out of a few tournaments and with the pullouts came lost points and a world ranking that started to slide.  He would play in a tournament here, and a tournament there, due to his hip being so bothersome.  Hewitt believed to be healthy enough to play both singles, and doubles in the 2008 Olympics for his home country of Australia.  He lost to eventual champion Rafael Nadal in the 2nd round of the singles.  It was in doubles where a long match aggravated his tender and bothersome hip once again.  After the Olympics, Hewitt decided to have surgery on his hip.  The surgery caused him to miss the 2008 U.S. Open.  There was talk of retirement for Hewitt.  With his style of play which relies on movement and shot making to win matches, because Lleyton will not overpower anyone on the tennis courts, a hip injury needing surgery could be the end of a career.  And if he did make it back he would only be a shell of his former self.  Well 2009 was a fairly successful year for the Aussie.  Hewitt didn't win a Grand Slam, but he showed glimpses of his former self.  A former self who was the #1 player in the world and has a couple Grand Slam titles.  Hewitt fought from the depths of not being seeded in tournaments and having to face a top player in early rounds, to finishing the year at #22.  The hip seems to be holding up, and Hewitt might just have one more run in him, before he hangs up the racket.