If she had forgotten how to throw back her head and flash that brightest of heart-warming smiles, Kim Clijsters [Images] could have been forgiven.

Personal heartbreak coupled with intrusive headlines in her homeland and a persistent, painful injury can do that to a person.

After a miserable year, however, in which she called off her wedding to long-term boyfriend Lleyton Hewitt [Images] and saw her ranking tumble out of the world's top 100, the 21-year-old's smile is back.

Champion at the Pacific Life Open at the weekend, her wrist seemingly as well mended as her heart, Clijsters has plenty to smile about.

Never mind that her ranking will not afford her a seeding for a while, Clijsters' victory at Indian Wells, beating world number one Lindsay Davenport [Images] in the final, signalled that she is back among the elite of women's tennis.

The Belgian is eager to caution against hysteria -- warning that she could easily lose in the first round of Miami's [Images] Nasdaq-100 Open -- but for all her protests, the smiles said it all.

"It felt like it's been so long. It's an incredible feeling after the tough year last year," she said after beating Davenport to leap 95 ranking places to number 38.

"I want to play those grand slams again and I want to be able to play girls like Lindsay in the grand slams there are still so many things that I would like to achieve in tennis."

CUSTOMARY ZEAL

That she is back hitting balls with customary zeal is a God-send for the youngster whose high spirits and sunny demeanour had been clouded by a difficult year.

Her split from Hewitt last October after a five-year romance would have been painful enough without the glare of publicity it attracted.

In the weeks following the break-up, Clijsters battled depression and leant on the support of her friends and family.

Her spirits can hardly have been improved by Hewitt's engagement to former Australian Soap actress Bec Cartwright in January but Clijsters maintained a dignified silence, breaking it last week to tell Reuters of her inner thoughts.

"I made the right decision and I'm happy," Clijsters said in Indian Wells.

"I believe that if you stay positive, everything will turn out positive for both sides.

"That's the most important thing at the end of the day, that you are both happy. I think that will happen for both of us."

Clijsters suffered at the hands of the Belgian media, who speculated endlessly over the split.

"I've never been in a situation like that before," she said. "It was a bad experience."

Displaying a maturity that belies her years, however, Clijsters has turned the misery to her advantage, and her coach believes she has emerged stronger than ever.

"Her time off cleared her head a little," Marc Dehous said. "She's mentally fresh and physically fitter.

"She had problems after breaking up with Lleyton, but luckily she had a lot of time to cope with those things. She grew up and moved on."

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