The top seed was made to look quite ordinary by un-seeded Czech Lucie Safarova in the second set of her quarter-final on Thursday night before Clijsters finally survived 6-1, 0-6, 6-4.
Safarova, ranked 41st in the world, shocked the US Open champion by crusing through the set in merely 20 minutes, giving way just nine points as she hit winners from all over the court.
Safarova continued her super streak early in the final set but the top seed got her serving rhythm again and managed to break in the fifth game to fight back the impetus.
"In that first set I was playing really aggressively and was dominating and got a lot of second serves [to attack]," Clijsters said.
"But in the second set she really did that a lot better and raised her level.
"When I lost that set 6-0 I said 'forget about it' and I just re-focussed."
Applauded by her daughter Jada in the stands, the 26-year-old took five match points to confirm her place in the semi-finals where she will face German Andrea Petkovic on Friday afternoon.
Another Belgian Justin Henin, making her comeback in Brisbane, also had her moments on Thursday, dragged into a third set tiebreak by Hungary's Melinda Szink, before heading towards a semi-final clash with Ana Ivanovic.
Clijsters refused that she was stunned by the dodgy Safarova, who has been popular as one of the most dangerous players on the WTA tour on her day.
A clay court expert, the Czech's career highlight was disturbing Justin Henin in the Paris Indoors in 2007 but has regretted her inconsistency.
"She's beaten a lot of good players in the past so coming out here I knew I was in for a tough match," Clijsters said.
But in the opening set the Brisbane crowd, concerned they would have a short night at 0-5, could not see a tough fight developing as Safarova struggled to win a point.
They gave her grating ovation for retaining the serve in the sixth game, which ignited her self-belief.
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