Former world no. 1 Kim Clijsters began 2012 on a winning note with a straight sets first round win over the Romanian teenager Simona Halep in the Brisbane International WTA event on Sunday.

It was Clijsters’ first tour match since she hurt herself at the Rogers Cup in Toronto. That injury pulled the plug on her 2011 season which began so promisingly in Melbourne with her first Slam title Down Under (her fourth overall ) but then got derailed by a number of injuries. The Belgian is now down to no. 13 in the rankings after being the top ranked player just 11 months ago.

“I did rehab at home for a couple of months after I was injured in Toronto.” Clijsters said. “I gradually started working out again, to get my body back into the intense workout, and then tennis was introduced. The last few months I was at home taking care of the family and preparing for the Australian summer.”

“For the first match this was pretty good.” Clijsters told reporters afterwards. “In the second set there were a few little errors I will need to focus on in my next match, but overall I felt good out there. I was playing aggressively and moving well. I was pleased with the way I served. I was pretty satisfied overall.”

In the second round Clijsters will play the winner of the first round match between Ana Ivanovic and Tamira Paszek. “Ana is a great player. She has had some tough years but has recovered well.” Clijsters commented on Ivanovic. “She and I have always gotten along well. I’ve always been rooting for her to do well and get back to where she was, so it’s exciting to see her back and to see her back with a good ranking.”

Another big name to advance on Sunday was former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, now 31 years old, but still going strong on the circuit. The Italian advanced when her opponent Ksenia Pervak, who recently switched from Russia to Kazakhstan, retired at 4-4 in the first set due to a migraine.

“If you look at me, I’m not so old.”the Italian joked. “I mean I can run faster than others run, and I think we are the good generation, me, Serena and Venus. Maybe Kim is ’83 but she has a lot of experience too. We have to use all of that experience and use our weapons to beat the younger players today. I am happy. I am very excited to start the new season.”

BRISBANE INTERNATIONALBrisbane, Australia – Sunday, January 1, 2012

Singles – First Round(3) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. Ksenia Pervak (KAZ) 44 ret. (migraine)(5) Kim Clijsters (BEL) d. Simona Halep (ROU) 61 64Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) d. (8) Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 36 64 63Iveta Benesova (CZE) d. Lucie Safarova (CZE) 26 75 75Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) d. (WC) Casey Dellacqua (AUS) 64 62

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