Former world No.1 Kim Clijsters, in her latest comeback to tennis, suffered a 3-6, 7-5, 3-6 loss to Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei in first-round action at the Chicago Fall Classic on Monday.

The 38-year-old Belgian, a mother of three who wakes up at 5 am at her family’s home in New Jersey to train, accepted a wild card for the hard-court tournament. She looked competitive during her first match of the season but misfired at key moments to remain without a win in four events since her comeback last year.

Clijsters made a quick start as she raced out to a 3-0 lead in the first set before world No. 97 Hsieh won the next eight games to take control.

But Clijsters, competing for the first time since a first-round loss at the 2020 US Open, came back from a break down to force a third set where Hsieh proved the steadier of the two in a match that lasted two hours and 18 minutes.

Next up for 35-year-old Hsieh, who reached her first grand slam quarter final at this year’s Australian Open, will be world N0. 16 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia.

Clijsters launched her second comeback from retirement in February 2020 and played two WTA Tour events before the Covid-19 outbreak halted action across the global sporting calendar.

The Belgian defended her US Open crown in 2010 and picked up the last of her four major titles at the Australian Open in 2011 before retiring again in 2012.

“Some good things, some bad things, and inconsistency,” the 38-year-old Clijsters said. “But I think for me the most important thing is that, what I talked with my coach and my trainer about, was physically being able to get through these matches without big concerns. That was the main goal. I came close today,” she said.