The Belgium comeback kids at at each other’s throats again, each having reached the Semifinals of the 2010 WTA Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Florida, USA. And as misfortune would have it, they are on the same side of the draw. So Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters line up on opposite sides of the net today to determine which of these two comeback kids will play the winner of the other Semifinal match featuring a surprise in No. 13th seed Marion Bartoli of France against a not-surprising No. 3 seed, Venus Williams of the USA.
The two have had interesting roads to this matchup. Clijsters and Henin were once roommates on grade-school tennis trips, each became Grand Slam champions, each claimed the No. 1 ranking and played each other nearly two dozen times before calling it a career. Their head-to-head series couldn’t be any closer, with Henin holding the edge 12-11. In their last matchup at Brisbane in January, 2010, Clijsters won in a close 3-set match, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(8-6).
Their friendly rivalry has now been taken out of retirement. Henin is only four tournaments into her return from a 20-month retirement, but she hardly looks rusty. She earned her way into the Semifinals by taking down No. 2 seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4.
Clijsters, on the other hand, got married and became a mother before making her return to the tour in August. She reached the Semifinals by beating No. 9 Samantha Stosur of Australia 6-3, 7-5.
It should be a great match. Unfortunately it is not the Final, so only one of these great champions will have a chance at the title. I would give a slight edge to Clijsters, who has a little more experience following retirement, and who already has a Grand Slam win at the 2009 U.S. Open. Which ever one wins is my pick for winning the Final in the next match against the winner of the Bartoli/Williams Semifinal.
