"I lost a little bit of my footwork," Clijsters said. "I wasn't as on my toes any more at 4-1. That made her come back into that first set.
"The second set I just knew I had to play aggressive and just keep going for the lines. Even though there's a lot of wind, you just have to play your game and not think about it too much."
Clijsters will next face Japanese 30th seed Ai Sugiyama, who defeated Czech Michaela Pastikova 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
The wind was still up when Serena Williams took the court to open the night session.
But Williams, who is trying to bounce back from various injuries that have hindered her since her Australian Open triumph in January, managed to overcome the conditions and her own 25 unforced errors to book a revenge match with 25th-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone, a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Finland's Emma Laine.
Venus Williams faces a potentially dangerous third-round match against Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova, the 20th seed who beat Maria Emilia Salerni of Argentina 6-1, 6-0.
Williams, who caused a stir by wearing 40,000-dollar diamond earrings in her first-round match, sported another dazzling dangling pair along with a strand of diamonds around her neck.
Amid the bling, Williams showed a more sober side, pledging a 100 dollars for every ace she hits for the rest of the year to relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which has devastated the Gulf Coast of the US.
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