Top 10 Tennis Comebacks of 2006

Posted on April 4, 2006

By Richard Vach, Tennis-X.com Senior Writer

Whether it's coming out of retirement, dropping back on to the regular tour from the senior tour, or rebounding from serious injury, a number of top/marquee/wannabee players have made their way back into the spolight (some brighter than others) in 2006.

Here is a look at who's hot, and not-so-hot, among the Top 10 comeback players from the first three months of 2006:

10. Pat Cash -- Still an active senior tour player, Cash played doubles at a futures event with his son Daniel earlier this year, losing in the first round. No word on whether both rocked the checkered headband or not, and no word on who's fault it is when a team containing a former No. 4-ranked Wimbledon champ loses in the first round of the lowest rung of pro tennis. "He's not too happy about it but it's not too often a father and son get to play in a pro tournament," the 40-year-old Cash said of his 19-year-old offspring. Cash also played the ATP doubles event in Chennai in January, losing first round. The contentious Aussie says he will stick to shoving matches with Thomas Muster and potential scraps with Marcelo Rios on the senior tour.

9. Ashley "Pebbles" Harkleroad -- Won two ITF titles in three finals last year, returning in April 2005 after a nine-month break from the game due to injury and depression. "H-Road" has strived to shake her Anna Kourni-clone complex, marrying ATP player Alex Bogomolov, Jr. in December. This year the American 20-year-old qualified to the main draw at tour events in Auckland and at the Australian Open, where she gave Maria Sharapova a brief scare in the second set in a 6-1, 7-5 loss. Since then her results have included first-round losses at Las Vegas and Miami, and an 0-and-0 beating at the hands of Lindsay Davenport in Indian Wells. Ouch.

8. Martina Navratilova -- An 0-2 start with South African partner Liezel Huber (last year's Wimbledon winner) didn't bode well for the legend's longevity this year, but last week things were looking up with a runner-up effort in Miami. The 50-year-old plans a full doubles schedule this year, and has hinted at some singles appearances -- but that will depend on how her surgically-repaired knee performs. "I just feel like I'm not quite done yet," Navratilova told the AP earlier this year. "When I feel like I'm done, then I'm done. And I don't know when that will happen." We look forward to the day that she is older than all three other players on the court combined.

7. Marat Safin -- Received a nice chunk of appearance fee at Dubai in his tour debut after finally returning from, by all accounts, a poorly-tended-to knee injury that may still need surgery. In Dubai he beat Top 10 Russian Nikolay Davydenko, then beat his countryman again along with former No. 1 Carlos Moya en route to the fourth round at Indian Wells. Safin almost immediately added spice to the tour upon his return, saying the video replay rules were crap, and pseudo-tanking a match in Miami after being put on after midnight. How fit is the big Russian? You'll find out this week in Davis Cup play.

6. Pete Sampras -- He's no John Lennon who can dump everything to raise a child and be content. Pete has the itch again. Sampras he will play World Team Tennis in July and debuts this week at the River Oaks exhibition. If he can consistently put the beat-down on regular tour players, can a senior event or Wimbledon wildcard be far behind? "Me playing a little tennis this year is something I can control; there isn't any pressure," Sampras says. "I can relax and have a little fun. Coming back is not something that crossed my mind." Funny, that's what Martina Hingis was saying last year...

5. Justine Henin-Hardenne -- What year isn't a comeback for the oft-injured Henin? Last year H-H played only nine events, not starting the year until Miami, but winning four straight including the French before missing the year-end championship with injury. Again in 2006 Henin began the year afire, winning two titles and reaching the final in each of her first three events -- semifinaling in Indian Wells, then slogging to a first-round loss in Miami. Despite all the "parity" talk on the women's side, there is no doubt H-H would rule the top spot on the rankings if she could stay uninjured for six months at a time.

4. Marcelo Rios -- Not as big a buzz as John McEnroe this year after the Chilean made his senior debut (and title) last week in Doha, which is maybe why after he raised the trophy he called McEnroe out. "I'm looking forward to playing McEnroe," Rios said. "That's one of my goals. He has been talking a lot so I'm waiting for him to come to play me." The now-less-surly left-hander, who Martina Hingis once described as looking like he "just walked out of the forest," sounds like he's ready to amp-up the senior competition.

3. John McEnroe -- Showed those "youngsters" aren't so tough by winning the regular-tour doubles title with Jonas Bjorkman at San Jose, and now just short of every tournament director wants Johnny Mac to play their event, opening the door for other senior players to jump on the tour-level wildcard train. If it doesn't conflict with his broadcasting duties or raising his 18 or so kids, look for the gray-haired lefty to again put the youngsters in their place at Wimbledon and/or the US Open. The replay says that ball is out? It can't be serious!

2. Rafael Nadal -- Rafa received a big scare when the foot problem that forced him to miss the 2005 year-ending Masters Cup also had him sitting out the Australian Open in January. Back on tour with a specially-made shoe insert, the Spaniard reached the semifinals in his first event back at Marseille, then handed the world No. 1 Federer his only loss of the year thus far in the final at Dubai. "It's not easy when you've had no competition and been without play at the best level for three months," Nadal said. "Now it's a comeback, and I am very happy to still play. Every match is a special match for me." Rafa's month of March wasn't so special with losses to James Blake and Carlos Moya in Indian Wells and Miami, but next week begins the claycourt season -- enough said.

1. Martina Hingis -- Everyone around her on the WTA Rankings has 20-something tournaments played, yet Martina Hingis has rocketed from zero to No. 25 after just eight tournaments in 2006, with three Top 10 scalps in Lindsay Davenport, Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova. The Swiss has 40 career titles under her belt, and if her play since her comeback has been any indication, she will collect another handful of hardware over the next couple years barring any injury. After exclaiming 'What's so special about Maria Sharapova?' upon making her comeback, by the completion of Wimbledon this year we could be hearing 'What's so special about my fellow Top 10 players?'

Richard Vach is a senior writer for Tennis-X.com, was recently awarded "Best Hard News" story writer for 2005 by the United States Tennis Writers Association, and can currently be seen on The Tennis Channel's "Tennis Insiders: Super Insiders" episodes.