Kim Clijsters confirms return to the WTA Tour

Kim Clijsters has confirmed her return to the tennis circuit after two years in retirement on a press conference held in her hometown today.

"It all started with preparing for the gala match at Wimbledon," Clijsters said. "It was all pretty laid back. But I liked it so much I was onto my training schedule from my pro days, and then the hunger for more came automatically. I look at this as a second career, not as a comeback, as I am now in a situation where not everything revolves around tennis 24 hours a day. We'll see how I, Jada and the others in my environment can handle this."

Clijsters said that she had further asked for wildcards for the Cincinnati and Toronto tournaments, as well as the US Open.

"I intend to play in the US Open and almost certainly in the tournaments at Cincinnati (early August)- my first official tournament back - and Tornoto," she told a press conference.

"I have been practicing on a regular basis with my training partner Wim Fissette and by physical coach Sam Verslegers, sometimes as much as six hours a day.

"The desire is back!."
And her plans after the US Open, however, depends on several factors, she insisted.

"I will have to take stock of how I manage to combine my family situation with life on the circuit - I am a mother and a wife after all," she said. "Also we will have to see how I come out of it all physically."

(photo/AFP)

Video: Caroline Wozniacki practices in Indian Wells on March 19, 2009

Although she dropped out from BNP Paribas Open, Caro is still in Indian Wells, practices and prepares for Miami. Maybe she's still in IW because of Nando??

Federer: Becoming dad won't effect tennis

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – Roger Federer doesn't think becoming a father will effect on his tennis.

"I think in a way I always had the dream that once I became No. 1 in the world if I have a child I hope I have it early enough so he can see me playing. So this is very exciting," Federer said Saturday after his 7-6 (4), 6-4 win over Marc Gicquel of France in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open.

On Thursday, Federer announced on his Web site that he and girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec are expecting their first child this summer.

"I think it's not going to really disturb my mind-set on tennis a whole lot. I've always made sure that my schedule is (arranged with time to) get away from tennis a little but and then come back when I'm ready to play again.

"If it does something to me, I think it's going to motivate me to play for a long time."

Federer and Vavrinec, a former WTA Tour player, met during the 2000 Olympics when both were representing Switzerland and they have been together since.

Federer, 27, said he is "completely excited" about impending fatherhood, "but I've been thinking about something like this happening for the last two or three years.

"For me, this is not a massive shock. But when it does happen (and) your girlfriend-wife is pregnant, it definitely changes your mind-set. All of a sudden you're hoping everything goes well, whereas before you're just joking about it. From that respect, I'm excited that the baby comes out healthy and everything goes OK. Other than that, it's just happiness. And all the people around me, all the people I talk to, everybody is like, 'Wow, it's such great news.'

"It's a nice time. And yeah, the baby is due in summer. Summer is a big word, yeah. I'm not going to say anymore."

Bryan brothers stake US to Davis Cup lead

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Powerhouse doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan came through for the United States again.

The top-ranked twins gave the U.S. a 2-1 lead over Switzerland on Saturday in the opening round of the Davis Cup, beating Yves Allegro and Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2) on in the best-of-five series.

The Bryans became the winningest U.S. Davis Cup doubles team at 15-2, passing John McEnroe/Peter Fleming and Wilmer Allison/John Van Ryn, and improved to 16-1 overall this year.

Andy Roddick will try to clinch the series against Wawrinka on Sunday and send the U.S. on to the quarterfinals against Croatia in July. Mike Bryan went so far as to guarantee Roddick, who has 30 Davis Cup singles wins, will lock up the match.

"We call him the closer," Bryan said. "When we put them up 2-1, he always shuts it down for us. He's going to bring everything he has tomorrow. And I guarantee he's going to shut it down tomorrow."

If not, James Blake will try to do it against Marco Chiudinelli in the final match. Blake lost the opener to Wawrinka while Roddick beat Chiudinelli in straight sets Friday.

The winner will play at Croatia, a 3-0 winner over Chile, on July 8-10.

The Bryan twins' victory was a good sign for the U.S., which has a 180-22 Davis Cup record after winning the doubles point and is below .500 when it loses.

The match had turned tight until the tiebreaker, when the U.S. tandem won the first four points.

Switzerland broke that streak when Bob Bryan lost control of his racket on a leaping overhead volley, but he iced it with an overhead shot a few minutes later.

Wawrinka, who captured the Olympic gold medal in doubles with Roger Federer, has only won one of four Davis Cup doubles matches. The No. 2-ranked Federer is out with an ailing back.

The Bryans dominated their service games. The Swiss managed only two points against the Bryans' serve in the first set and eight in 13 service games before Wawrinka and Allegro took command of the third set after finally breaking Mike Bryan's serve.

Swiss, minus Federer, are a big Davis Cup underdog

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Switzerland hasn't won the Davis Cup in 79 attempts. It sure won't get any easier without Roger Federer.

The Swiss face a U.S. team led by Andy Roddick and James Blake when first-round play in the best-of-five series begins Friday.

Federer, a 13-time Grand Slam winner now ranked No. 2, is out with a bad back.

"We know for Roger it wasn't an easy decision to make, but I think it's very important for his career that he make this decision," said Stanislas Wawrinka, now his country's top singles player at No. 18.

Swiss captain Severin Luthi said it would have been tough beating the Americans even with Federer.

"I think after Roger pulled out, for sure we're not the favorites any more," Luthi said. "We're the outsiders, but we're comfortable in this situation. For sure we didn't come here to lose. We're going to do the maximum and try to win this tie."

After Wawrinka it's not clear who will be Switzerland's No. 2 player.

"It's always the same with our team," Luthi said. "We're always ready to change."

The matches will be played on a hard court at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex. The winner advances to the World Group quarterfinals in July; the losers are off until September.

Roddick acknowledges that Federer's absence "took a little bit out of the match."

"It's a weird dynamic because obviously it increases our chances of winning having him not be here," he said at a news conference.

In October, Federer committed to the first round of the Davis Cup for the first time since 2004. But in January he backtracked because of his back, which has been ailing since last year. His teammates had his support. Some at home, however, were perplexed.

"For sure people were disappointed, and a few of them maybe couldn't understand it," Wawrinka said.

This is the first time the Davis Cup has been played in Alabama and early ticket sales were strong based partly on the Federer-Roddick matchup. Organizers said Federer's absence hadn't hurt the event.

"We have not had one single phone call to our office requesting a refund," said Gene Hallman, executive director of the Alabama Sports Foundation.

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AP Sports Writer John Zenor contributed to this report.