Kim ClijstersAustralian Open defending champion, Kim Clijsters, is planning to try to defend her title in Melbourne in 2012.

Clijsters has not played much since winning her first Australian Open title last January. She has been hampered by foot, shoulder and abdominal injuries. She dropped out of the top 10 this week, marking the first time since May 2007 that Clijsters, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams were not in the top 10.

Clijsters is back on the practice courts preparing to play in an exhibition in Belgium in December, trying to get on track for the 2012 season. Clijsters wrote in her blog on Tuesday:

“I am currently preparing for the Diamond Games (on December 8 at the Antwerp Sportpaleis) and the new season. And things

[are going] very well so far. We’ve added a lot of volume to my base training and worked on power, endurance and speed training. In the meantime I started playing tennis 3 to 4 times each week, with Carl (Maes) and my new sparring partner Stefan Wauters. We have worked hard, but with a lot of pleasure and satisfaction.

The recent injuries are doing fine too: both the right foot [and] the stomach muscles respond very well to the efforts. I maintain some of my recovery exercises, especially for the abdominal muscles. [The] next couple of weeks my training sessions will include [even] more tennis hours. The way things progress now, I feel that I will be ready by the time of the Diamond Games! “On 1 January 2012 my season will start at the Brisbane tournament.”