Clijsters to be more careful with 2012 schedule

Kim Clijsters says she will be more careful with her 2012 schedule in order to avoid injuries. After winning the Australian Open and climbing back to No. 1 just after reaching the final of the Paris Indoors in February, the Belgian was beset by injuries to her ankle, shoulder, wrist and abdomen.

On Thursday, Clijsters played her first match of any kind at an exhibition in Antwerp, where she defeated No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki.

"The start of 2011 was really good. But after that I made some decisions I no longer would make now," the 13th-ranked Clijsters said on her website. "After a physically and psychologically very strenuous Australian Open, the indoor tournament in Paris was the one event too much…. [but] I don't have any regrets. It was because of my final in Paris that I was able to No. 1 again. Now, I'll be listening to my body much better. I have been working really hard on my serve, because that often did not go well in the past year. And there are a few other details I would like to see improve."

Clijsters has reunited with her former coach, Carl Maes, who indicated that 2012 would be the 28-year-old’s last season. Clijsters herself indicated last year that she had no firm plans to play past the 2012 Olympics.

"Choosing someone entirely new for her final year would perhaps be a bit too tricky," said Maes, who coached Clijsters between 1995 and 2002. "There will always be things you do not have control of, but both physically and on the level of tennis, training is going really well. The main issue is how Kim will put things into practice for a real match."

Clijsters will start her 2012 season in Brisbane and then take a week off to prepare to defend her Australian Open title.