BRISBANE

Winning return for Henin: 75 75 to Petrova.
Ivanovic wins in 3 sets against Dokic. Easy first round win for Clijsters
Seeded players losing immediately: Kleybanova (6) to Pavlyuchenkova and Benesova (8) to Petkovic. Neither shocking surprises.

AUCKLAND

Straight sets wins for Pennetta, Wyckmayer, Rezai and Cibulkova. Medina Garrigues (8) easily out against Rybarikova.
Date Krumm rolled over Chakvetadze.

Quite a good win for Henin in her very first match back. Given the weakness of the field, I think she has to be viewed as a favorite to reach the final, which will give her some good match play going into Australia.

People are saying the Clijsters def. Safarova 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 match in Brisbane was a corker.

Obviously Lucie has her limitations, but I hope this is her best year. She's been steadily improving, so it's possible. When her game works it's thrilling.

I think Safarova's niche is basically to cause trouble for the top ladies every now and then, without any other significant results. Still, if it's enough to stay in the Top 40 and flirt with the Top 20 from time to time, it's more than a lot of journeywomen can hope to accomplish in their time, so more power to her.

It's hard to believe how excited I am to have Henin back, now that it's a reality. I mean, it was just the other year that I was rolling my eyes at how all the other players kept lying down for her, even the Williams sisters and especially her serial victims Kuznetsova and Jankovic. Will it be the 2008 Justine, who managed to turn the most routine match into a three-setter, got bagelled by Sharapova in Melbourne, and then lost tamely to Safina in Berlin (incidentally igniting her charge to the top in the next year, which was still inspiring even though once she got there it wasn't too pretty)? Or the 2007 Justine who swept all before her and left everything in her wake, except for one Marion Bartoli?

I guess we'll find out if we get an all-Belgian final in Brisbane, which would be all kinds of awesome. Again, I used to dread Clijsters v Henin back in the day because you already knew Kim wouldn't have it in her, but now? Should be exciting.

It's a Belgian week so far.
Kim vs Justine in Brisbane and Wickmayer reaching Auckland final.

Wickmayer took it, with a very impressive win over Pennetta. Flavia had been demolishing opponents all week, and seems to be picking up where she left off last season, so I didn't see that coming at all. Good thing the rising Belgian's ban was lifted and that the Auckland organisers gave her a wildcard, eh? I hope she can keep playing once all the legal rigmarole has run its course.

As for the Brisbane final - well, what is there to say. I'm glad I got to catch the replay on the Tennis Channel today, as I wasn't entirely awake when I caught it on live streaming the other night, because without all the suspense and drama from the first time (not to mention grogginess) I was really able to appreciate the tennis. Suffice it to say that Clijsters is still definitely back, and Henin is definitely on her way back, and that much of the match was played at the highest level. There is a lot of history between them and a lot of comeback credibility was riding on the outcome, which made for nervous points at times as well (I think both women ended with 10 DFs apiece, including unfortunately the second-to-last point.) My sympathies must have changed during the match a dozen times; each time the woman I wanted to win actually started to win, suddenly I was cheering for the other one. It's just as well because there were a lot of momentum shifts (heck, there were a lot just in the third-set tiebreaker alone). You could almost see the thought bubble form over Kim's head when she held a point to go up 6-3, 5-1 - 'This wasn't supposed to be this easy ... I used to lose to Justine all the time!' She then proceeded to lose 8 games in a row in a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy, although Henin really had to dig deep there as well.

It could have been a 6-2, 6-1 beatdown from Clijsters, with all break chances considered. It could have been a runaway win for Henin in the third. Instead it was an epic, come-from-behind victory for Clijsters. I kind of think that was the best outcome. It means their H2H is now a tight 12-11 instead of the 13-10 decisive Henin advantage it could have been; it also means, with double championship point, that Henin was fully capable of winning her first tournament back and her comeback is real. It also meant that the competitive juices are flowing for both women as well as their best shots (there were really a lot of electrifying rallies - catch a replay if you can), which should really alarm the rest of the field, namely the Williams sisters and the top Russians.

As for the rest of us, we can just sit back and see it all unfold at the AO. It's a wide-open field, except in a good way this time, with too many women who could win it, instead of not enough.

That Henin/Clijsters match was a thing of beauty. Some of those rallies were so unbelievable. The shot making was so varied, and even though I love big babe tennis...it was nice to see something different on the tour. I mean it was slices, drop shots, angles, spin, hard hitting, and that delicious one handed backhand of Justine's that I missed so much. Never liked Justine but her tennis is lovely. Ashame she had to pull out of Sydney though because that kind of second round match against Serena is exactly what both of them need and would've been juicy. I wonder if she was just tired. Having an injury issue I wouldn't say is such a problem so soon because she made it so far in the tournament. Her body isn't used to that yet. So she's smartly resting up for the Australian Open. It will suck for whoever has to play her early. Women's tennis should be very interesting this year. Great to see Clijsters beat her though. Hopefully she can step up at the majors though because thats where Justine has stung Kim.

Onward to Sydney.

Just noticed that Na Li beat Wozniacki. That's her 6th victory over a Top 5 players and 15th over a top 10. Can she please get herself into the Top 10 this year! Meanwhile, Kimiko Date Krumm's comeback seems to be getting better and better, now with a victory over Petrova, who was a Top 10 player herself a few years ago.

Kimiko run Azarenka close in the second round. A 7-5 loss in the third set.

Li is always a bit "unconstant". A nice win and then a missed opportunity. She lost in 2 sets to Pennetta (who is solid, but if you aim at the top 10 you have to beat her).

Serena very easily debut and Safina has won a match (Radwanska can always be tricky). Kuzny out against Cibulkova

Serena seems in better shape than the YEC. I think that the loss to Clijsters at the US Open and the return of Justine has probably made her realize she needs to get it together for 2010 to make sure she's right there in the mix. It obviously looks like Kim and Justine are gonna be there tournament after tournament.

It would be great if this helped Serena get excited about playing. Knowing the level of Kim and Justine, and relishing the challenge of the competition. Not at all to excuse her lack of caring at regular events, but for someone as competitive as Serena, it must have been very deflating for Justine, Kim, and Maria to be out. Makes for an interesting start to the year.

Interesting point. Do you think Serena prefers having the Belgians and Sharapova out, because she can all but guarantee 2-3 slams a year? Or does she prefer to have them in the mix in order to make her wins more meaningful, knowing it may only result in her getting 1 slam.

While having them out makes it an easier path to a slam, I would say Serena would prefer for them to be healthy and in the mix. Because that can help her get and stay motivated to train and compete at the regular events. At this stage in her career, I would think she'd prefer to have the push of knowing those others were playing and working hard to get ready. That would likely make it easier for her to find the daily motivation to train. 11 months of training for 8 weeks of majors.