Belgian tennis legend Kim Clijsters lost her first comeback game to the Spanish Garbine Muguruza in a WTA tournament in Dubai on Monday.
The former world #1 lost her comeback game in two sets, 6-2, 7-6 (8/6), to the Spanish #16 of the world, Garbine Muguruza, in the first round of the WTA Premier hard-court tournament in Dubai. The match lasted 1 hour and 37 minutes.
Clijsters lost the first set (6-2) in 32 minutes. It seemed like she found her strength again in the second set, which she led 5-4, but lost eventually lost as well in a tie-break.
Classic @Clijsterskim ?#DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/VWB9TVzGLO
— WTA (@WTA) February 17, 2020
Muguruza will face either the Russian Veronika Kudermetova (WTA 39) or the Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska (WTA 26) in the next round.
Last September, Clijsters announced her return to the tennis courts in 2020, after an absence of more than seven years. The 36-year-old Limburg native originally scheduled her comeback for January, so she could compete in the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season, which she won in 2011.
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However, a knee injury forced her to change her schedule. She then announced that her first tournament would be in Monterrey, Mexico in March, but decided to bring forward this much-anticipated comeback and finally began her third career in Dubai.
After Dubai, Clijsters plans to play in Monterrey, Mexico (March 2-8) and then travel to the United States to play in the prestigious Indian Wells Premier Mandatory tournament, the second tier after the major tournaments. Also in the United States, she has announced her participation in the Charleston tournament, a WTA Premier event that will take place April 6-12. Clijsters has never played in Monterrey and Charleston before.
Kim Clijsters took her first break in 2007 and returned to the competition in 2009 after the birth of her first child, Jada. She has 41 titles, including four Grand Slams (2005, 2009 and 2010 US Open, and 2011 Australian Open).
The Brussels Times
