Alisa Kleybanova made a stunning comeback from a 10-month recovery from cancer and her return to the tennis courts was victorious, but she stopped at the second hurdle, against fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko in the second round of Miami. It was not a straightforward win for Kirilenko, the first set lasted 80 minutes and eventually the favorite won 7-6(1) 6-3.

We all know that Kleybanova is absolutely fulfilled by the very fact that she's able to compete again, and every match is a win for her. After losing to Kirilenko she said: "For one month of training this was my limit."

She is planning to slowly build her schedule, it's not that she will now play one tournament after the other. However, she did say that Charleston, the event directly following Miami, is on her list. Actually, she said that she will try to play it and then go to Europe. (via WTA Tour, photo: © Neal Trousdale)

"For everyone else it's just the first round, but for me it's very emotional. I'll always remember it - it will always be the first match of my comeback."

After ten months of Hodgkin's lymphoma treatment, healthy Alisa Kleybanova celebrated a victorious return to tennis after a 2-6 6-3 6-2 win over world No.64 Johanna Larsson in the first round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. Motivated and emotional Kleybanova enjoyed every point on the court, even in the set she lost. Read more »

Our last update on Alisa Kleybanova’s recovery from Hodgkin's lymphoma shared that the Russian had one more major medical test awaiting. In her new message to fans, on the WTA Tour's official website, the 22-year-old said that her last tests all turned out positive and that she is now training on the tennis courts again, preparing for the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami for which she has been awarded a wildcard.

I finished my treatments in December and a couple of weeks ago I did my last tests in Italy. The treatments were successful, my doctors are happy with my health and I'm feeling great!

Kleybanova is now in Florida, ecstatic about resuming her tennis career.

I have started to train and right now I'm in Florida playing tennis again!!! It was physically really hard in the beginning, but it was so emotional that I didn't want to get off the court This is just amazing, I'm working out every day now and enjoying it so much more than before!

Good luck with your comeback, Alisa. Looking forward to seeing you play in Miami!

The two-time WTA titlist and former world No.20 Kleybanova was struck by the serious illness in the middle of 2011. The last match she played was in Rome in early May 2011. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

A month and a half ago, news leaked that Alisa Kleybanova finished her chemo/radiation therapy and that she was planning to resume training in February, while a comeback during the claycourt season was stated as a possibility. Matt Cronin is now informing us on Tennis.com that Kleybanova has started her off-court training and if she passes one more major medical test, she will take up training on the tennis courts. In case the Russian doesn't pass the test, she will come to the United States to train in the warm weather.

The 22-year-old Kleybanova was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in the summer of 2011.

Alisa, Women's Tennis Blog wishes you a full recovery and successful return to tennis! (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Cari Champion, an anchor and courtside reporter for the TennisChannel, tweeted that Alisa Kleybanova, who was diagnosed with a serious illness, Hodgkin's lymphoma, has ended her chemo/radiation therapy and is even considering returning to the tennis courts soon.

The Russian reached a career-high ranking of No.20 in February 2011, but stopped playing after the Rome tournament in May due to the form of cancer. If everything goes well, the 22-year-old will slowly resume practicing in February in Florida and her coach is hopeful that she will play French Open tune-ups and the claycourt Grand Slam.

This favorable development of situation is still depending on a lot of factors, but at least it sounds promising. I'm really glad that Alisa has prospects of playing among the big names again, where she belongs. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)