When it comes to the news, it is so easy to focus in on the negatives.  Tennis news is no different.  Whether it be lamenting the prolonged poor form of Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic or the continued struggles of Angelique Kerber, those are the topics that tend to garner the most attention.  But it is important to focus on the positives as well, and the WTA is experiencing a positive uptick with the recent returns of Victoria Azarenka and Petra Kvitova.  Both have returned to competition sooner than anyone expected, and they themselves are not the only ones to benefit from that good turn of fortune.

For starters, both make for an inspirational storyline. It is not the norm for a female athlete to return to competition after giving birth, yet that is what Azarenka is determined to do.  This week marked her first tournament back since giving birth to her son Leo last December, and she hopes it will be the first step in her journey towards the top of the game.  Like Azarenka, Kvitova had also been sidelined since December albeit for a much more tragic reason.  She was stabbed during a home invasion and suffered what many initially feared might be a career-ending injury.  She has worked hard to recover, however, and now she is quickly making strides to prove that she can overcome not just the physical wounds, but the psychological ones as well as she aims to ascend back up the ranks.  Each represents an admirable mission that is not only good for tennis, but can easily transcend the sport.

Looking solely from the side of tennis, the return of Azarenka and Kvitova provides the WTA with a plethora of much-needed positive headlines, too.  That was not the case in the high-profile return of Maria Sharapova, which came with plenty of controversy.  The Russian's comeback dominated much of the news over the course of the clay-court swing, but it primarily did so by creating discord and division.  The wild cards she received proved to be a bone of contention with many players and fans alike and the verdict that resulted in her not receiving a wild card of any type into Roland Garros sparked plenty of debate on both sides of the equation.  By contrast, there is no such controversy surrounding the Belorussian and Czech.  Few, if any would argue against them making use of their protected rankings and would not bat an eye at them receiving wild cards into the main draws of tournaments.  This allows the focus to fall solely on their play instead of questioning if it is even right that they can compete in the event.

Being healthy and able to once again compete in the main draws of the biggest events is perhaps the greatest aspect of the return of Azarenka and Kvitova though, and it could not come at a more opportune time.  With Sharapova sidelined with injury until later this summer and Serena Williams absent as she awaits the birth of her first child, there is an obvious vacuum in the women's game.  Kerber has struggled to live up to her top billing throughout this entire season, and there has not been a great amount of overall consistency at the top.  The sport needs this pair of two-time major champions to step up to the plate and start regularly vying for the grandest prizes.  Azarenka, who is also a former world number 1, is in a particularly good position to help fill the void if she is quickly able to re-discover her top form.

No doubt it will take time for these two champions to tap into their best tennis, but the sooner they can do so, the better.  They belong at the top and have the credentials to bring both more prestige and stability to the women's game.  Perhaps their presence will also spur the rest of the field to sharpen their own skills and hone their games to raise the overall quality of women's tennis.  Hopefully, that comes sooner rather than later, but either way, there is nothing but positives to be gained by these two returning to the game and looking to make something happen with Wimbledon just around the corner.