Clijsters’ Layoff Ends This Week

Kim Clijsters’ five-month-plus injury layoff will finally end Wednesday at a tournament in Hasselt, Belgium, not far from her home in Bree.

Left-wrist surgery took its toll, dropping her world ranking to No. 7, forcing her to miss the final three Grand Slam events of the year. And Clijsters, the two-time defending champion, is all but certain to miss the season-ending WTA Championships at Staples Center, Nov. 10-15.

Which is why she is looking ahead to 2005.

“I think it will probably be very hard to make those,” Clijsters said of the championships in a conference call from Belgium on Monday.

“But you never know. I’d probably have to win every tournament I play in. I don’t even know if I could make it then. Now I’m just going to play this year just for next year. I’m only focusing on next year. I’m just very happy to be out there again.”

Clijsters, 21, suffered the injury to her wrist tendon in March at Indian Wells and had to withdraw. She tried to return to the tour during the clay-court season, a brief and futile attempt before having surgery in June to remove a cyst in the wrist. During her layoff, she experimented with a one-handed slice backhand and said it had developed into a decent defensive shot.

As in 2003, the top eight singles players will qualify for the championships, as will the top four doubles teams. Clijsters was 17th, with 1,238 points, Monday. In eighth place was Jennifer Capriati, at 2,300, and Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova of Russia was ninth at 2,250.

Two players have qualified -- No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo of France and Lindsay Davenport. Davenport leads the race to the championships, which is based on results from the start of 2004. Mauresmo is second and U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia is third.

The next five in the race are French Open champion Anastasia Myskina of Russia, Australian Open winner Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium, U.S. Open finalist Elena Dementieva of Russia, Serena Williams and Capriati. Williams, who ended Kuznetsova’s 14-match winning streak on Sunday in the final of the China Open, moved up one spot this week from eighth.

The race is unusually close. There is not much of a gap between eighth and 11th. Venus Williams, with 2,145 points, and Vera Zvonareva, with 2,096, are 10th and 11th.

Of the top players vying for the final spots, Venus Williams and Capriati have the lightest schedules. Williams is scheduled to play in Moscow and Zurich, Capriati in Filderstadt, Germany, and Philadelphia.

The busiest? Kuznetsova. After winning the U.S. Open, she played in back-to-back events, winning in Bali and losing Sunday’s final at Beijing. The Russian teenager is off this week, but is set to play in Filderstadt, Moscow, Zurich, Linz, Austria and Philadelphia.

Zvonareva is scheduled to play at Filderstadt, Moscow, Zurich and Linz.

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At the event in Belgium where Clijsters will make her comeback, Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain beat ninth-seeded Jelena Kostanic of Croatia, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4, in the first round Monday.... Thomas Johansson of Sweden beat sixth-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain, 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (5), in the first round of the Thailand Open in Bangkok.... Third-seeded Guillermo Canas beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain, 7-6 (1), 6-3, on the first day of the Shanghai Open in China.

Associated Press contributed to this report.