Miami, FL – Playing her first match since the Australian studded Sony Ericsson Open.
The unseeded Clijsters shook off some rust in fighting from behind to beat capable Aussie Jarmila Gajdosova, 4-6, 6-1, 6-0, on the hardcourts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park.
Clijsters' second-round opponent will be 14th-seeded German Julia Goerges, who was one of 32 seeds to receive an opening-round bye.
The four-time Grand Slam champion Clijsters, sidelined by some nagging injuries since late January, was a Miami titlist in 2005 and 2010.
The top seed here is also the defending champion, Victoria Azarenka, who is fresh off her title at Indian Wells last week. The current world No. 1 star and Australian Open titlist from Belarus is off to a perfect 23-0 start this season.
Azarenka, who also titled in Miami in 2009, topped three-time Sony Ericsson Open runner-up Maria Sharapova in last week's finale at Indian Wells and last year's title tilt at Crandon Park.
The high-flying Azarenka and Clijsters are joined in a potent field by the likes of the Aussie Open and Wimbledon runner-up Sharapova, Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova, former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, and the Williams sisters -- Serena and Venus.
The former top-ranked Serena is a five-time Miami champ (2002-04, 2007-08) and two-time runner-up, while the former No. 1 Venus owns three titles at this event (1998-99, 2001) and was a runner-up on another occasion.
The winner of the $4.828 million tournament will collect $712,000.
