Lest we forget, Alisa Kleybanova was a 21-year-old who had Kim Clijsters on the ropes in an Australian Open tuneup match in 2011. Her big strokes and wind-it-up swings were reminiscent of Lindsay Davenport at her own peak.
And they still are. Kleybanova is going to Miami.
She returns to WTA competition this week at the Sony Ericsson Open on Key Biscayne, Florida after a 10-month hiatus to undergo treatments for and recover from a bout with Hodgkin's lymphoma. Her fight and her grit outside of the lines of the tennis court bring to mind doubles specialist Corina Morariu's battle with leukemia in 2001, as well as Venus Williams' current struggle with Sjogren's syndrome.
The WTA's website and espnW both have good write-ups on Kleybanova's return. She addresses all who will hear her—which should be everyone—in this brief and down-to-earth video message here: