Click here for Hingis' 2006 assessment of her comeback.

By Kamakshi Tandon

Things are getting competitive between Kim Clijsters and Martina Hingis. When it comes to engagement rings, Clijsters has it all over Hingis – hers glitters under the interview room lights while Hingis' merely glints. (Both still lag behind Bec Hewitt, however: when local tabloids estimated the value of the jewellery she wore to husband Lleyton's night match on Tuesday, they put her engagement ring at AU$200,000...)

While Clijsters and Hingis haven't been comparing carat sizes – not publicly, anyway – they have noticed their near-simultaneous march through the first two rounds here. On Tuesday, they took to the courts at the same time and finished within two minutes of each other. Hingis dropped two games, Clijsters none. "We came into the locker room and we started laughing," said Clijsters. "And she's like, 'Damn, you beat me, you were there first.' And then today, as well, we were waiting at the office, at the practice desk to be escorted out, and she's like, 'I hope I'm going to get here before you get here.'"
 
On Thursday, Hingis dropped four games to Clijsters' three but both finished their matches in less than 70 minutes  keeping both on track for a scheduled match in the quarterfinals. While Clijsters looks like a lock, Hingis is less certain. Her fourth-round opponent could be Dinara Safina, who defeated her in the Gold Coast final two weeks ago.
 
But if the seeds hold, it'll be a repeat of their quarterfinal encounter here last year, which Clijsters won in three sets. A few months later, she got engaged to basketball player Brian Lynch and is coming into this event planning to retire within the year. hingis, meanwhile, is coming in a year after ending her retirement and recently became engaged to fellow tennis player Radek Stepanek.
 
While Hingis used retirement as an opportunity to dabble in all the things she hadn't been able to do as a pro, Clijsters has a much clearer sense of post-tennis purpose – marriage and family.
 
Still, there's a school of thought that says she'll be tempted to follow Hingis' footsteps and come back to the tour in time. Clijsters herself won't touch the subject. "That's something that is so far ahead and in the future, you know," she said. "I haven't retired yet, I'm still playing, and we're already talking about a comeback. I don't think like that, so I'll have to say 'no comment' to that question."
 
Hingis also refused to speculate based on her own experience. "I don't talk to her about retirement, that's for sure not. I think she knows the best herself what she might and what she not."
 
Meanwhile, Clijsters is treating this as her last go-around Down Under. During her long-time relationship with Hewitt – she and the Australian No. 1 were once engaged – Clijsters became familiar with the country and even developed a faint Australian accent in her English speech. Though that relationship has ended, the genial Belgian has retained those connections, in keeping with the importance she places on making and maintaining friendships.
 
"I always feel very well when I come back to Australia," she said. "It's different, too, because I know so many people that work at the events. And last week in Sydney, as well, I just know them personally from going to Davis Cup ties [involving Hewitt] and stuff like that. I know a lot of people who work for the tournament, and that's fun. That doesn't happen at a lot of tournaments, and when you can see those faces again a year after, it's just nice to catch up. That makes it a little bit more personal than all the other tournaments."
 
A year on, things are different for Hingis too, as she discovered after walking into her post-match press conference on Tuesday. "There's no one here," she exclaimed. "Last year it was full."

Attendance is sure to be better if both keep their quarterfinal date. Clijsters is undefeated so far this year, winning an exhibition event in Hong Kong and taking the title in Sydney last week. She would be a strong favourite against Hingis, which could then set up an even more anticipated showdown with Maria Sharapova in the semifinals.