“I am feeling fine right from the beginning”, she said after her first match against Croatian Jelena Kostanic. “I have been looking forward to this event for a couple of weeks. Many people were asking me about the pressure of starting again I didn’t feel any of that. I was very motivated to play again”.

Clijsters’ first appearance on the tour, after her disappointed first comeback in Hasselt last year, raised high hopes in Belgium. Knowing they have two of the best players on the tour, the Belgian sports fans can’t wait to see their countrywomen back at the top of the WTA Tour ranking. The crowd, welcoming Clijsters for her first match in Antwerp, was just as excited as Kim was.

“Standing behind the curtains, I just couldn’t wait to step back onto the court, it's such a great feeling playing in Antwerp. The people are just as excited to see me back on court as I am. I have heard them talking on the radio about it when I returned from practise. It gives me the feeling that everybody is waiting for my comeback. I just felt the relief in the crowd when I hit my first ball right. And after hitting my first backhand I could hear people whispering. I could feel their excitement which went away after two or three games”.

After winning her first match against Jelena Kostanic (6-2, 6-3) in less than an hour Clijsters still is somewhat reluctant to say that she has been totally recovered.

“It is still a matter of time to see how the wrist holds on. Last year in Hasselt the problems started after my third match. When that is going to happen again I think my career is finished. I just enjoy every match that I can play. After the tournament in Hasselt I had the feeling that I never could play tennis again”.

“The hardest time during my injury was in November and October, I was picking up practise again but I could not tell on what date and where I would play my first tournament again. I didn’t have any goal to work on. Now I think that the wrist should not be a problem anymore. I played three sets matches during practise and they were never a problem but you never know what happens. But earlier I thought: I don’t want to quit tennis yet. And that was very hard”.

Reviewing the 2004 season, it has not been a very good year for Clijsters. Spraining her left ankle at the Hopman Cup, she had to withdraw from Sydney. She injured her left ankle again at the Australian Open but played on and lost the final to Justine Henin-Hardenne. Her withdrawal from Indian Wells and Miami, with a left wrist tendonitis and bone bruise, made it impossible to defend her titles. She again had to withdraw, from Berlin, due to her aggravating left wrist. In June she had to undergo surgery to repair a torn tendon and to remove a cyst in her left wrist. Clijsters returned after 20 weeks of absence in Hasselt but had to leave the semi final to Elena Bovina due to her re-aggravating left wrist injury. An apart from her medical misfortunes she also breaks up with her longtime fiancé Lleyton Hewitt.

“I only kept the positives from last season, I have always been a person that takes the positives out of a lost match as well. And from last season I have learned a lot, a lot about myself, about life in general in fact. I am glad the matters happened as they did, otherwise nothing would have been changed”.

Clijsters is also trying to weaken the rumors of jealousy and envy on the tour when she is asked about the response off the players and colleagues on her comeback.

“I had many good reaction from the girls, during the time I was at home I had a good contact with Anastasia (Myskina) and Ai (Sugiyama). I later received emails from Serena (Williams) and Alicia (Molik). I have always been in good contact with the girls and it's very nice to hear something from them. But life goes on whether you are there with them or not. It was really nice to see Anastasia again; she is one of my best friends on the tour and I also had a lot of contact with Rennae Stubbs”.

Clijsters’ second match against Russian Nadia Petrova, the No. 12 of the ranking was harder then the first match of her comeback tournament. The 21 year old from Bree needed three sets to advance into the third round. With only one break in the twelfth game Clijsters managed to take the first set 7-5.

After breaking Clijsters in the third game Petrova faces a rebreak in the eighth game. The Russian takes the tiebreak 7-3 for one set all. In the third set Petrova ran out of energy after she had asked for treatment, Clijsters took the third set 6-1 and the match after 2 hours and 14 minutes.

“I knew it was going to be much harder against Petrova but I am very satisfied I was able to play a three set match. I enjoy every backhand that I hit. But I am not yet at my old level”, Clijsters said.

Coach Marc Dehous said Kim started practicing the backhand in January. “I think she had the best preparation you could wish, the preparation took 3,5 months and she came out much stronger physically and very eager mentally. She still did hit some errors with her forehand and backhand but the fact that she is choosing for those aggressive options is very important. You see that players that are not as good as Kim don’t make that choice”.

“We had two tennis sessions and one fitness training a day but Kim is so intensive when we practise that one session of tennis practise and fitness training alone can last for 5 or 6 hours. She also benefits from the knowledge her father has. He also, as a professional football player, had to return from injuries. He knows all about recovering from surgery and the follow up after an injury”.

In the following match Clijsters had to face Venus Williams. A lost battle, “Venus was just too good and nobody can beat her if she plays like that”, Clijsters said after the match that had ended in just over the hour. Venus Williams had her eyes set on the Gold Racket and was hammering away with all might, winning the match 6-3, 6-2. “The balls just kept on coming, six, seven times,” Clijsters said.

“I didn’t play a bad match, it didn’t matter how good I was playing. She played a very good match. We had some tough rallies but she is always going to let you do a little extra, I am just not ready for that at this moment. It could be that I miss match rhythm but I am not going to use that as an excuse”, she said.

Venus Williams was just a level too high for Clijsters at her comeback tournament. She drops back in to the 130’s on the WTA Tour ranking losing a lot of points after winning the tournament in Antwerp last year. Clijsters will now prepare for Indian Wells and Miami. Summing up the successful comeback week in one word, Kim Clijsters said it was “Gorgeous”.