Who will be the king or queen of combacks at Laureus awards?

Kim Clijsters’ dramatic return to tennis in 2009, winning the US Open as a non-seeded wildcard in only her third tournament after a two year absence, has made her one of the favourites to be nominated for the 2010 Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award.

The Laureus World Sports Awards, which recognise sporting achievement during the period January 1, 2009 - December 31, 2009, are recognised as the premier honours on the international sporting calendar.

The names of the six Nominees for the Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award, as voted by the Laureus Media Selection Panel, will be announced shortly.

The eventual winners, chosen by the Laureus World Sports Academy, the ultimate sports jury made up of 46 of the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen of all time, will be unveiled during a televised Awards Ceremony in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, March 10, 2010.

Belgium’s Kim Clijsters had announced her retirement in May 2007 at the age of just 24 because of continuing injuries. After announcing her return to top level sport last summer, she played in the US Open at Flushing Meadows and beat World No 3 Venus Williams in the fourth round – only Clijster’s 11th match since coming out of retirement - then World No 2 Serena Williams in the semi-final and ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets in the final. Her US Open win placed her in the top 20 in the world rankings, she became the first wild card champion in US Open history and the first mother to win a Grand Slam in the Open era since Evonne Goolagong Cawley at Wimbledon in 1980.

Some of the biggest names in sport are also among the favourites to be nominated. Record seven-time winner of the Tour de France, and twice winner of Laureus Awards, Lance Armstrong, at the age of 38, made his comeback to the race in 2009 after a four year absence. Even more remarkably he had broken his collarbone in March after a crash in one of his warm-up events, the Vuelta Castilla y Leon in Spain, and had needed corrective surgery, but he was still able to recover in time to take part in the Tour in which he finished third, behind the winner, his Astana team-mate Alberto Contador. Armstrong said that his comeback had been inspired by his desire to raise national awareness of cancer, which he had fought and beaten in the late 1990s.

Eight times major golf championship winner Tom Watson came within a putt of winning the British Open at Turnberry in July at the age of 59. He needed a par on the final hole to take his sixth British Open, but could only manage a bogey five, and lost the resulting play-off to Stewart Cink. During his eventful four days, Watson became the oldest man to have the lead after any round of a major championship and the oldest player to lead a major going into the last round. In the 1970s and 1980s, Watson was one of the leading players in the world, winning five British Open championships, two US Masters and one US Open. He headed the US PGA Tour money list five times.

The world’s No 1 golfer Tiger Woods came back after serious knee surgery to win six US PGA Tour events in 2009. After winning the 2008 US Open, Woods had surgery to repair an anterior cruciate ligament injury. After eight months out, he returned to dominate the US Tour with wins in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Memorial, the AT&T National, the Buick Open, the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the BMW Championship – his 71st career title. At the Presidents Cup, Woods won all five matches. The only area in which he did not dominate in 2009 was major championships – he finished sixth in the US Masters and the US Open, missed the cut in the British Open, and, despite a two shot lead going into the final round of the US PGA Championship, lost to Y.E.Yang.

Having missed the 2008 Beijing Olympics with a stress fracture of the ankle, Britain’s Jessica Ennis came back in style to win the heptathlon gold medal in the World Championships in Berlin. In a brilliant 2009, she produced a new personal best at the IAAF World Combined Events Challenge in Desenzano del Garda to win the event with a total of 6,587 points, and became World champion in Berlin with an other personal best of 6,731.

American Brett Favre came out of retirement for the second time at the age of 39 and signed with the Minnesota Vikings in August 2009. One month later he created a NFL record with his 271st consecutive start as quarterback with Minnesota Vikings overtaking the mark of Jim Marshall. He was the starting quarterback for the Green Bay Packers between 1992 and 2007 and for the New York Jets in 2008. He was a member of the Packers 1997 Super Bowl winning team.

After a disappointing 2008 when she failed to win Olympic gold and the Golden League by the narrowest of margins, Croatia’s Blanka Vlasic stormed back in 2009 to win the World Championship high jump gold medal, then 11 days later cleared 2.08 metres – the second best high jump ever.

Laureus World Sports Academy Member and tennis legend Martina Navratilova said: “Tennis has suffered over the last few years with top class players retiring before their time was up because of injuries and stress. Kim Clijsters threw all that into reverse and staged a truly phenomenal comeback. It takes a really strong turn of mind to be able to return to the hard work and prsssure of the tennis circuit, but for Kim to be able to do that and win a Grand Slam tournament within a few weeks is a heroic performance.”