Flushing Meadows, NY (My Sportsbook) - Former U.S. Open champ Kim Clijsters was an easy winner in her return to Flushing Meadows, as the final Grand Slam of 2009 kicked off on Monday.

Clijsters, who captured her lone Grand Slam title at the 2005 U.S. Open, returned to competitive tennis just this month after taking two years off to get married and have a child. She played at the U.S. Open tuneup in Cincinnati and reached the quarterfinals before losing to world No. 1 Dinara Safina, then was a third-round loser to Jelena Jankovic at the Rogers Cup.

The 26-year-old Belgian was first on the court Monday at Ashe Stadium and made quick work of the Ukraine's Viktoriya Kutuzova with a 6-1, 6-1 rout in just 54 minutes. She won 60 of the 88 total points, fired up seven aces among her 17 winners and broke serve five times.

Seeded winners Monday included Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska and Italy's Francesca Schiavone.

The eighth-seeded Azarenka cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Romania's Alexandra Dulgheru, while the 12th-seeded Radwanska thumped Austria's Patricia Mayr, 6-1, 6-2. Schiavone, the 26th seed and a surprise Wimbledon quarterfinalist earlier this summer, breezed past Austria's Yvonne Meusburger, 6-1, 6-2.

Russia's Maria Kirilenko was a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Mariya Koryttseva of the Ukraine and American Vania King advanced when Anastasia Yakimova of Belarus retired in the first set after just three games.