Kim Clijsters says she is going to plough ahead with her tennis comeback despite losing her return match 2-6, 6-7 (6/8) to Garbine Muguruza in the opening round of the WTA event in Dubai.

Four-time Grand Slam champion Clijsters, 36, had been out of the game for seven years before the clash with Muguruza, who reached the final of the Australian Open last month, and is keen to push ahead after an encouraging display against the world No. 16 Spaniard.

“I had a good feeling out there. I do feel a little bit of, I’m not going to say relief, but a feeling of the pace I can handle. Obviously she’s probably not the hardest hitter out there. There are some girls that hit the ball a lot harder. I felt like I was able to go toe-to-toe with her from the baseline,” said Clijsters.

“I felt like for a while I was dominating some of the points ... the way I was able to get back into that second set, with the type of tennis I played, it’s something that is the positive. I’ll take that with me for the next matches.

“I have patience. I’m going to work my way into it and fight. We’ll see what happens.”

Clijsters did not say where she will continue her comeback, not mentioning any future tournament entries after taking part in Dubai as a wild card.

Two-time Grand Slam winner Muguruza said of Clijsters: “I’ve seen her play when I started on the Tour, she’s an incredible player.

“I was excited to be the first (opponent of the comeback). She played very well, especially in the second set. “At the end. It was very tight. It was a fun match to play. I’m sure she’s going to get better.”

The ninth seed, 10 years younger than Clijsters, dominated early on as the Belgian played her first official match since the 2012 US Open. Clijsters, a mother of three, was on the back foot in the early part of the match, losing serve in the first game of both sets.

She found herself three down after losing her first two service games in the second set after being swept aside in the first but fought back gamely to lead 5-4 after nine games.

However, Muguruza took the set to a tie-break and emerged victorious with a service winner on her second match point.