By Benjamin Snyder

 

It’s been over six months since the Western & Southern Open came to another successful close, celebrating its 2010 singles champions Roger Federer and Kim Clijsters. With big changes gracing the Lindner Family Tennis Center in preparation for this year’s tournament, including the inaugural combined men’s and women’s event, an expansion of the grounds and an accelerated play time packing even more tennis in just over one week, it’s time to preview the recent activity of last year’s accomplished winners.

 

Will Federer and Clijsters hoist trophies again this summer? Here’s a recap of their success at 2010’s close and their play in 2011 with the seasons already well underway.

 

For Roger Federer, the win at Cincinnati over wild card Mardy Fish tied him with four-time winners and fellow tennis greats George Lott, Bobby Riggs, and Mats Wilander. By beating Fish, Federer also earned the distinction of being the first man to claim back-to-back Cincy titles since Andre Agassi achieved the feat in 1995 and 1996.

 

For a write-up of the epic Federer-Fish match, check here.

 

After his Cincy title, Federer’s earned what he might consider "moderate" success on tour, although tremendous by anyone else’s standards. The Swiss took titles at the year-ending event in London over rival Rafael Nadal and at Doha versus Nikolay Davydenko. At the majors, he’s struggled at the later stages, losing to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of both the US Open and the Australian Open.

 

Speaking of Djokovic, Federer’s proven to be a step slower than the Serb, who also beat him in the Dubai finals in January. More recently, Djokovic overtook Federer in the rankings with his Indian Wells win over the Swiss in the semifinals. Capping off Federer’s form since the Cincinnati Masters is a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Nadal at Miami’s Sony Ericsson Open.

 

 

Kim Clijsters’ win in Cincinnati over Maria Sharapova propelled the Belgian’s career forward in big ways. Clijsters rallied past shaky form, a match point on Sharapova’s racquet and rain before finally finding her champion’s game. At the brink of defeat and down 5-3 in the second, Clijsters claimed some much-needed momentum. The players faced a rain delay due to the inclement weather, which inspired Clijsters to never look. She took the final set easily in a lop-sided affair.

 

Since then, Clijsters has reaffirmed her status at the top of the WTA tour numerous times. The Belgian secured her third victory at the US Open, a repeat of her 2009 title, by beating Vera Zvonareva in straight sets. After that, she hoisted trophies at the WTA year-ending event over current world number one Caroline Wozniacki. Then, she started 2011 with a bang by claiming wins in Doha and at the Australian Open.

 

Despite that success, not everything’s gone perfectly for the number two-ranked Clijsters as the season’s continued. For instance, she lost in both the Sydney and Paris finals. These past few weeks especially have been rocky for Clijsters, who retired in the fourth round of Indian Wells due to injury. She also lost to the eventual champion Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals of Miami, despite earning her 500^th career win in the process.

 

Bumpy roads for Federer and Clijsters aside, if both can keep injury at bay and hold on to their commitments to tennis, the future could look bright indeed. As the summer season starts and players get ready for Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the Olympus US Open Series, watch as these two champions of past and present attempt to fight to take the ATP and WTA tours by storm.

 

For more on Roger Federer, see his official site here.

 

For more on Kim Clijsters, see her official site here.

 

See the ATP’s official website here and the WTA’s official website here.