Sadly, this season has already marked with injuries to many of the top pros. Some of them, either out since the start of the season or having suffered early-season injuries, returned to the tour over the last two weeks with decidedly mixed results.

The world number two and the tour's hottest player on current form, Davenport suffered a hamstring injury during her victorious Australian Open run in January, and returned to action in Scottsdale (Arizona) earlier this month. Lindsay did not skip a beat in Arizona, navigating a reasonably tough draw (Capriati, Seles, Kournikova) to reach the finals.

Alas, a rare desert rainstorm washed out the keenly-anticipated final that was to pit Davenport against the woman she is seeking to dethrone as number one, Martina Hingis. But with two Tier One events coming up this month at Indian Wells and Key Biscayne, Davenport and Hingis will likely cross swords again with even more money and points on the line than was the case in Arizona.

Going back to last summer, the USA's one-two punch has been remarkable: for seven consecutive tournaments, when both men entered the event either Andre or Pete emerged victorious. The tennis establishment, particularly in their home country, has their fingers crossed that a renewed rivalry between the aging but still excellent stars will rev up interest in the men's game.

Interest was certainly heightened by their extraordinary five-set duel in the Australian Open semifinals, but this classic match left physical sequels on both men. Sampras suffered a hip injury that kept him out of action for six weeks, while Agassi traced the back spasms that forced him to withdraw from San Jose in February to the arduous confrontation with Sampras in Melbourne.

Both men returned to action last week in Scottsdale, but they definitely failed to match the success obtained by their compatriot Davenport. Neither survived the second round. Sampras suffered a minor ligament pull in his first-round win over Greg Rusedski, and was forced to withdraw from a scheduled encounter with Alex Corretja. As for Agassi, he turned in a lamentable showing in being routed 6-2, 6-1 by the Spanish veteran Francisco "Pato" Clavet. One suspects both men might have been saving it for the crucial events in Indian Wells and Key Biscayne.

The popular double US Open titlist had undergone rotator cuff surgery in November, and his appearance in Delray Beach (Florida) in early March constituted his first singles action since the 1999 US Open. He did well to reach the quarterfinals at Delray, where he then seemed to fade badly after winning the first set in a loss to Paul Goldstein.

However, last week in Scottsdale Rafter went down in the first round with a decisive 6-4, 6-2 loss to the rising Spanish star Juan Carlos Ferrero. It's hard to know what is the problem with Rafter. Lingering shoulder pain? Lack of match play? Subconscious worries about reinjuring his shoulder? Or perhaps his usual crummy early season play (Rafter has traditionally started to play well in the summer months)? It will be interesting to follow his progress at the big hard court events coming up in the land of the Stars and Stripes.

The long-awaited return of Rios after off-season groin surgery was a disappointment for home fans, as he crashed out in the first round in Santiago to another recent injury returnee, Bohdan Ulihrach. Rios suffered another setback the subsequent week, in the Scottsdale quarterfinals against Lleyton Hewitt, when he withdrew during the second set with leg cramps. The enigmatic Chilean has already had success at the upcoming Indian Wells and Key Biscayne tourneys, as he swept both in 1998 to achieve the number one ranking at that time. But it seems we might have to wait a while yet before we see Marcelo recapture that form, if he in fact ever will.

We wish the injury returnees good health and success in the weeks and months to come, and hope that multiple injuries will not mar what promises to be a great season.