Kim Clijsters won her first match at the French Open in five years, easily defeating Anastasiya Yakimova 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of the clay-court Grand Slam on Tuesday.
Clijsters, the reigning U.S. and Australian Open champion, played her previous match at Roland Garros in 2006 when she lost in the semifinals to Justine Henin.
She did not return to the tournament as a player since that match because of injuries and a sabbatical from tennis while she got married and gave birth to a daughter.
The 27-year-old Belgian, a runner-up in Paris in 2001 and 2003, also had to cope with injuries this season and resumed training only a few weeks ago.
It was the first time since her return to competition that she didn't win the first set of a first round Grand Slam match 6-0.
