Kim Clijsters (right) of Belgium congratulates Garbine Muguruza of Spain on her win during the WTA Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship on Monday. Photo: AFP

 

Kim Clijsters says she is going to plough ahead with her tennis comeback despite losing her return match 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) to Garbine Muguruza in the opening round of the WTA event in Dubai.

Four-time Grand Slam champion Clijsters, 36, had been out of the game for seven years before the clash with Muguruza, who reached the final of the Australian Open last month, and is keen to push ahead after an encouraging display against the world No.16 Spaniard.

"I had a good feeling out there, I felt a pace I can handle. I felt like I was able to go toe-to-toe with her from the baseline," said Clijsters.

"I wouldn't have done this if I didn't have that belief somehow. It might take 10 matches to get the way I played in the second set, might take me 10 matches to get that from start to finish.

"I have patience. I'm going to work my way into it and fight. We'll see what happens."

Clijsters did not say where she will continue her comeback, not mentioning any future tournament entries after taking part in Dubai as a wild card.

Two-time Grand Slam winner Muguruza meanwhile will play one of Veronika Kudermetova and Dayana Yastremska in the next round after having to fight off a determined Clijsters in a tight second set following a simple first.

"I've seen her play when I started on the tour, she's an incredible player," Muguruza said of Clijsters. "I was excited to be the first [opponent of the comeback]. She played very well, especially in the second set.

"At the end. It was very tight. It was a fun match to play.

"I'm sure she's going to get better and better, for sure she give me a lot of trouble. She played really well after all these years [away]."

Ninth seed Muguruza, 10 years younger than Clijsters, dominated early on as the veteran Belgian played her first official match since the 2012 US Open. Mother of three Clijsters, who was playing in Dubai for the first time in her career, was on the back foot in the early part of the match, losing serve in the first game of both sets.

She found herself three down after losing her first two service games in the second set after being swept aside in the first but fought back gamely to lead 5-4 after nine games.

However Muguruza took the set to a tiebreaker and emerged victorious with a service winner on her second match point after nearly an hour and three quarters on court.