Clijsters Bracing for Tough Times at WTA Berlin

World No. 2 Kim Clijsters struggled on her return to WTA tour play from a wrist injury on Wednesday, needing three sets to subdue Spanish qualifier Marta Marrero 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 in Berlin.

The top-seeded Clijsters is wearing a brace around her left wrist, hampering her on the two-handed backhand.

"I wasn't expecting to come back and play my best tennis straight away," Clijsters said. "I'm glad I could get through this match. The wrist is not 100 percent and the brace is definitely restricting me but I have to live with it."

Only one seeded upset on the day, with Fabiola "The Fabulous One" Zuluaga ousting (9)Vera "Warren" Zvonareva 6-1 in the third.

Other seeded winners on the day were (2)Amelie Mauresmo (d. Dulko), (3)Venus (d. Daniilidou), (4)Anastasia Myskina (d. Kostanic), (7)Elena Dementieva (d. Cohen-Aloro in three), (8)Ai Sugiyama (d. Likhovtseva), (10)Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. Bovina), (11)Paola Suarez (d. Schett), (13)Patty "Handshake" Schnyder (d. Gagliardi), (16)Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi (d. Dechy 6-1 in the third), and (17)Maria Sharapova (d. Mandula, who retired in the first set with injury). In two all-unseeded match-ups, Denisa "Hanging" Chladkova edged Maria Sanchez Lorenzo in three, and Croat Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem beat American Meghann Shaughnessy.

Thursday the seeds meet in Berlin, with scheduled matches including Capriati vs. Sharapova, Venus vs. Smashnova-Pistolesi, Chladkova vs. Mauresmo, Clijsters vs. The Spreminator, Dementieva vs. Kuznetsova in an all-Russian, Schnyder vs. Myskina in an all-attitude, Suarez vs. Petrova, and The Fabulous One vs. Sugiyama.