First there was Kim Clijsters, then there was Justine Henin; could women’s tennis have asked for anything more? The return to the tour of the two Belgians has been the story of the last few months.

And yet, there has always been Serena Williams. The champion of the Australian Open – she’s now won five of those nice, big, shiny silver cups – is, without doubt, one of the greatest street fighting winners in the women’s game. No one can question her talent and skill, but when the chips are down, Serena simply will not be beaten.
Yes, she can overwhelm her opponents with her serve, her ground strokes and all those other things that coaches enthuse about, but she can also roast the opposition with sheer dogged grit and belief. Serena is a champion and a half and in her pomp is stunning.

Suddenly, women’s tennis has moved into another gear.

The comeback of Clijsters at the US Open was a sensational story: in only her third tournament back after more than two years away, she beats Serena in the semis and goes on to win the title. And all this without a ranking.

Then Justine announces her comeback and, only two tournaments and four weeks into her return, she reaches the Australian Open final. And, to boot, she has Serena on the ropes in the second set of the final and at the start of the third. Better still, she makes it clear that there is so much more to come. And she won’t be ranked until after her next tournament. Serena, mind you, did point out that Henin could be the world No.1 by the end of the year. She really is that good, even after a two year time-out.
After a fairly low key two years, the Australian Open has shown that there is a lot to come from the women’s tour this year.

Maria Sharapova may have lost in the first round here, but she did take three hours to lose and, even after a workout like that, she felt her once-ailing shoulder had stood up to the test. She will be back up and running soon, though, and that will add extra spice into the mix.

Then there are the Chinese contenders. Li Na and Zheng Jie stormed through to the semi-finals only to be undone by Henin and Williams, but they announced their arrival on the world stage and they are ready to kick on to repeat the feat at the next major tournament.

Looking back through the draw, there were many signs of hope for the future – and they came from several quarters. Sam Stosur came in to the Open with a varied run of form. Many wrote her off, assuming the weight of national expectation would crush her. Yet, Stosur headed for the fourth round and stood toe to toe with Serena. That night, Serena was unplayable but, even so, Sam put up a decent fight. She played a blinder but Serena was in championship winning form – and as Justine will attest, Serena on a mission is almost unstoppable.

While the established stars have held sway in the last few years, the younger hopes have been trying to claim their moment in the spotlight. Alas, they have looked good in spells – and some of them have looked very good on the front covers of magazines – but none has managed to launch a serious challenge for the top. Until now.

Last year, Victoria Azarenka was giving Serena the run around until she was felled by the heat, dizziness and a stomach upset. This year she came back and proved that her performance had been no fluke as she kept Serena on the run for 2 ½ hours in the quarter-finals.

Maria Kirilenko, too, has been threatening to make a major breakthrough for some time. She has five tournament titles to her name but struggled in the grand slams. This year, she built on her giant-killing act in the first round – it was she who did for Sharapova – and then headed for the quarter-finals, her best result at a grand slam, where she was beaten by a combination of Zheng and a leg injury.

In the last couple of years, it did seem that the women’s tour was going through a transitional phase, that the likes of Dinara Safina, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic et al were ready to take the game by the scruff of the neck. But now, with the return of Henin and Clijsters, normal service seems to have been resumed. And that can only be good news.

Henin and Clijsters bring the best out of Serena and her sister. That means the Williams sisters will have to be on their guard – and the two of them when fit and focused are great to watch. And as the older champions raise the bar, so the younger hopefuls have to work harder to catch them – and as the Australian Open has proved this year, they are game for the challenge.

The Australian Open has set the standard for the year and if the other grand slams can match it, we are in for a cracking season.
Source:Australian Open