U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters has won her opening match at the Brisbane International, beating Tathiana Garbin of Italy 6-2, 6-1.
Clijsters, the top-seeded woman at the joint WTA-ATP tournament at the Queensland Tennis Centre, faced three break points in the opening game of the match but fought back to take the lead.
Clijsters, who won in 53 minutes, will face the winner of Sunday’s later first-round match between Ekaterina Makarova of Russia and Australian Alicia Molik in the second round.
On Monday, Justine Henin, the former No. 1 making a return to official tournament play after 20 months in retirement, takes on second-seeded Nadia Petrova.
