'Comeback no cameo'

"I couldn't expect something better than what happened in Brisbane in terms of the rhythm and intensity of the game that pushed me to another level that I wasn't use to any more," the 27-year-old told reporters on Saturday.

"That match really helped me. I still need these kind of matches to really take my game to another level."

After a first-round encounter against compatriot Kirsten Flipkens, Henin may get exactly what she wishes for at Melbourne Park with Russian fifth seed Elena Dementieva a likely second-round encounter.

Should she progress, Henin could set up a quarterfinal against either 2009 French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova or Clijsters, who won the US Open on her own comeback last year.

Henin, who quit the game in 2008, said she was now "200 percent" committed to her job and had a new calmness and maturity which would help her return to her best.

"I learned a lot of things in the last 18 months. I wouldn't say I've changed but I probably grew up," she said. "Now I think that I'm going to be as engaged as I was before.
"The experience I had the last two years will help me more calm, more quiet and more mature with my life on the tour."
Henin has been given a wild card to play here.