The Comfort Rooms

L-R : Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters

2010 will be a great year for women's tennis. Why? Because the Belgian girls are back! Both Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin (woot! woot!) are out to prove to the world that Belgium remains a major country in the world of tennis. While we have proven that the Serbian girls (Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic) are a big joke, we will all end 2010 with both Belgian girls claiming trophies for themselves.

Both former world number ones and multiple grand slam winners, they stand as the biggest threat to Serena Williams - the reigning Australian Open champion. All we need are healthy versions of Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams, a more potent Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Dementieva, a resurgent Jelena Dokic plus an improved Caroline Wozniacki and Jelena Jankovic and voila! Women's tennis would be having its best ever year.

Expect Justine Henin to make a big impact on this year's Australian Open, although I will be more keen to see a rematch of the Serena Williams-Kim Clijsters US Open semi on Melbourne. Maybe Justine will show them all that Paris really does belong to her. I would love to see a 6-1, 6-1 Justine Henin win over Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals of the French Open in June and probably for her to finally win her Wimbledon.

Indian Wells will probably belong to Kim Clijsters and Miami will be hotly contested among all top women. Expect the high-drama Justine Henin vs Serena Williams saga to continue. A very intense US Open semifinal between the two might be the match of 2010 on women's tennis.

Both Belgians have, in the past, managed to come out of injuries (now retirements) and win grand slams and number one rankings. It is not impossible that one of them will be able to reconquer the top ranking since I expect both women to enjoy resting more than grinding it out weekly against other girls.

Finally, women's tennis is no longer a dud. Thanks Belgium!