Clijsters wins first game in two years

Former world No. 1 Kim Clijsters won the first match she’s played in more than two years on Monday, beating 12th-seeded Marion Bartoli of France 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of the Cincinnati Open.

Clijsters, who retired in May 2007 and gave birth to a daughter in February last year, will meet Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder in the second round. Schnyder defeated Gisela Dulko of Argentina 6-4, 6-0.

“I’m really excited playing my first match,” Clijsters said. “I’ve been training since the start of February, and I’ve always been focused on Cincinnati. Winning my first match feels good.”

Clijsters looked good even before she started playing, Serena Williams said.

“I look like I had a kid more than she does,” Williams said earlier in the day. “She looks amazing.”

Mixing sharply angled groundstrokes that kept Bartoli on her heels with deft drop shots and solid serving, Clijsters showed no traces of rust while winning 12 of the first 15 points on her way to a 4-0 lead in the first set, breaking Bartoli at love in the second game.

“It was very difficult to expect anything,” Bartoli said. “I haven’t seen her in two years.”

Clijsters was unable to maintain her torrid pace, double-faulting on consecutive service game points while Bartoli won four straight games, but Clijsters regained enough momentum to close out the first. She had 14 winners to Bartoli’s two in the set.

“I thought I started off really well,” said Clijsters, making her first career appearance in Cincinnati. “Maybe I surprised myself a little bit with that start. I felt like my movement was good, but it could be better.”

The Belgian, who was ranked No. 1 for 19 weeks in 2003 and won the 2005 US Open, fought back from 15-40 in the fifth game of the second set to hold serve for a 4-1 lead and from 0-40 to close out the match.

Another former top-ranked player, Serbian Ana Ivanovic, rebounded from dropping the first set and overcame a rain delay of almost two hours to roll past America’s Melanie Oudin 2-6, 6-1, 6-1. The match was delayed 1 hour, 40 minutes by rain, with Ivanovic leading 4-1 in the third set. The 11th-seeded Ivanovic will meet Melinda Czink of Hungary in the second round. Czink beat Frenchwoman Alize Cornet 6-3, 6-2.

In other earlier matches, ninth-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus advanced into the second round with a 6-3, 7-6 (2) win over Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi.

Azarenka used a steady game to defeat Kanepi, who committed 36 unforced errors to Azarenka’s 15. Kanepi also had six double-faults, while Azarenka had just one.

Two qualifiers, Olga Govortsova of Belarus and Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko, also advanced in straight sets.

■MONTREAL MASTERS

REUTERS, MONTREAL

Rafael Nadal’s tender knees passed their first test when the Spaniard returned to action on Monday in a doubles win at the Montreal Masters.

Sidelined for more than two months with tendonitis in both knees, Nadal looked fighting fit as he teamed up with coach Francisco Roig to beat Serbian duo Novak Djokovic and Dusan Vemic 7-5, 6-4.

It was a positive first step in what is expected to be a testing comeback for the 23-year-old Spaniard, who opens the defense of this Montreal crown with a second round clash against either compatriot David Ferrer or Serb Viktor Troicki.

Playing his first event since being stunned in the fourth round of the French Open on May 31, much has changed for Nadal as rival Roger Federer took his French Open and Wimbledon titles along with the world No. 1 ranking.