Henin Expected To Announce Return To Tennis Tuesday

7-time Grand Slam champion Justine Henin is expected to announce the end of her retirement from tennis on Tuesday, multiple sources are reporting. Henin announced her retirement effective immediately on May 14, 2008 while still ranked #1 and the clear favorite to win another title (her fifth) at the 2008 Roland Garros grand slam tournament.

Belgian Kim Clijsters returned from retirement this summer and won the 2009 US Open in just her third tournament back on the tour following a 2 1/2 year gap and the birth of her daughter Jada.

I am completely unsurprised by this turn of events, and knew that as soon as Clijsters was back Henin would return as well. Last month rumors started circulating that Henin was starting training again and some people noted that Henin's projected "absence" from the sport would appear to coincide with an 18-month ban that would have been imposed if there had been a doping violation. I'm not saying that there has been, but it is curious that if Henin does indeed announce her return to the tour today, what her first tournament is, and whether it occurs before November 14, 2009.