DUBAI • After nearly eight years away from the WTA Tour, Kim Clijsters feels there was much to be pleased about her comeback match against Garbine Muguruza.
The 36-year-old Belgian matched the pace and intensity of the Australian Open finalist in glimpses before losing 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) in their last-32 match-up at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Monday night.
While there were signs of rust, including 10 double faults, there were also big hints that she could still hold her own at the elite level.
Clijsters remains a world-class striker of the ball, capable of producing easy, rhythmic power from all sections of the court.
She also remembers how to build a point with method and confidence and, more importantly, finish what she constructs.
The four-time Grand Slam champion was making her first appearance on the Tour since the 2012 US Open - when Muguruza was still a teenager - and the battling display left the 26-year-old Spaniard convinced her opponent is "going to get better and better".
The two-time Grand Slam winner said: "For sure, (Clijsters will) give us a lot of trouble. She played really well after all these years."
Clijsters agreed that she would be a bigger threat with more matches under her belt.
"I had a good feeling out there," she told reporters. "I do feel a little bit of, I'm not going to say relief, but feeling of the pace I can handle.
"Obviously, she's (Muguruza) probably not the hardest hitter out there. There's some girls that hit the ball a lot harder. I felt like I was able to go toe-to-toe with her from the baseline.
"I felt like for a while I was dominating some of the points... the way I was able to get back into that second set, with the type of tennis I played, it's something that is the positive. I'll take that with me for the next (few) matches."
Retired player turned tennis analyst Pam Shriver saw enough to declare that Clijsters was not just making up the numbers on the Tour.
"A couple of times I was watching the rallies and rubbing my eyes and saying, 'This is like 12 years ago,'" she told ESPN.
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