Serena Williams's victory at the Australian Open will have done
wonders for the confidence of two former world No. 1s looking to step
back onto the women's tour.

Williams – who last year battled injury, has not won a Grand Slam
since Wimbledon in 2003 and was questioned about her desire to win
again – beat American and world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport in three sets
in the final in Melbourne on Saturday. It proved Williams had not
lost mental prowess and sporting skill and that time away from the
game was not the death knell for a successful career.

It will have made great viewing for two players keen to get their
game swinging.

"Swiss Miss" Martina Hingis prematurely hung up her racket in 2002
while Yugoslavian-born Monica Seles last played on the tour in 2003
when injury forced her out.

Both are treading carefully on any pathway back into the spotlight
and using various events to test the waters on the WTA tour.

Hingis will play in a low-key tournament in Thailand this week and
said a good performance could see her return to the circuit full
time.

Seles, meanwhile, has ventured to New Zealand to kickstart her
comeback with an exhibition match against fellow former world No. 1
Martina Navratilova. She said she would use the match as a gauge on
where her game was before deciding on a final shot on the WTA tour.

Seles has proven once already that she can slot back onto the tour.
She returned to the circuit in 1995, two years after she was stabbed
by a crazed fan at the German Open.

She went on to win another Grand Slam, uplifting the Australian Open
crown a year later.

But both she and Hingis face a vastly different scene from the one
they knew just a few years ago.

The emergence of the Russian "mafia" – Maria Sharapova, Svetlana
Kuznetsova and Anastasia Myskina – has added new firepower to the
women's game, bringing a depth highlighted by four different Grand
Slam winners.

This was emphasised again at Melbourne Park this month, a string of
top-class female players offering more than fancy coloured outfits
and flash hairdos.

Alicia Molik was another new face. The Australian nearly caused a
boilover in Melbourne, pushing Davenport to three sets in the quarter-
finals.

There is also the other half of the Williams duo, Venus, and the
likes of Davenport, Justine Henin-Hardenne, Kim Clijsters and
Jennifer Capriati.

In contrast, the last year in the men's game has been dominated by
Swiss player Roger Federer and American Andy Roddick.

However, the first Grand Slam of the year has sent a few ripples
through the men's pool, with Federer ousted by a resurgent Marat
Safin and Roddick making way for homegrown talent Lleyton Hewitt.

The depth in the women's game, it seems, has a superior swing –
little comfort for two former greats looking for an opening. However,
Williams's victory may have offered them something to grasp.