The first match of Kim Clijsters‘ third comeback to tennis was a gracious 6-2 7-6(6) defeat to two-time Grand Slam champion and fresh Australian Open runner-up Garbine Muguruza in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Playing on tour for the first time in seven and a half years, the 36-year-old wildcard Clijsters lacked sharpness in the first set, as the ninth-seeded Muguruza earned a one-set lead with ruthless service holds, even though Clijsters’ baseline rallies and powerful forehand occasionally caught her off guard.
Muguruza opened the second set with a double break lead, 3-0, but then Clijsters began to find the sweetspots with her groundstrokes and erased her opponent’s advantage to level to 4-4.