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  • Johansson and Dent continue comebacks

    12/16/08 2:58 PM | David Cox
    Johansson and Dent continue comebacks Injury-afflicted duo, Joachim Johansson and Taylor Dent, could make full comebacks this year. Both have entered the World Tennis Challenge exhibition in Adelaide next month.

    The inaugural event consists of two-player national teams - one active player and one retired player. Dent competes with Jim Courier and Johansson partners with Mats Wilander. The event has attracted a lot of interest from the senior tour regulars and Henri Leconte, Mansour Bahrami and Pat Cash will be there livening things up.

    Andre Agassi expressed interest in competing at some point in the future, possibly in 2010. The dour-time Australian Open champion is always a popular figure with the crowds Down Under and former coach Darren Cahill suspects it will not be long before Agassi follows Pete Sampras onto the seniors tour.

    For Johansson and Dent, once two of the most fearsome servers around, it's another tentative step to see if their bodies will hold up to the strain of competitive tennis. Johansson blasted his way into the Top 10 back in 2004 and many viewed him as a potential slam winner. However, he could not remain fully fit for more than about six months, and after multiple shoulder and elbow operations he called it quits in February. Nonetheless, retired tennis pros find it hard to satisfy the competitive urge and Johansson is back for one more try. He got a wildcard into ATP Stockholm in October and was in good enough form to win a round before losing to David Nalbandian.

    Raemon Sluiter is another who can't cope without the buzz of the tour. Former Dutch No. 1 Sluiter retired at the ATP Rotterdam in February but admitted he's now planning to return. "I could not resist the itch," he said.

    27-year-old Andreas Vinciguerra has started playing club tennis again in Sweden and if all goes well he may return to the tour. The left-hander reached No. 33 in the world back in 2001 but last competed in 2006 due to a long-term knee injury.

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