New York (AFP)
Belgian Kim Clijsters, 37, is not sure she will be able to play the US Open in ten days, due to an abdominal injury that forced her to withdraw from the Western and Southern Open, a preparatory tournament in Flushing on Friday Meadows.
Three-time winner of the US Open (2005, 2009 and 2010), Clijsters had been invited to this tournament, usually played in Cincinnati but moved to New York this year, on the courts of Flushing Meadows, because of the coronavirus.
"It's disappointing to have to withdraw from the tournament, but I spoke to my doctors. I need a rest and I will continue to prepare in the bubble of the Billie Jean King Center," explained the former issue. World 1, also invited to the US Open which will start on August 31.
The Belgian has won four Grand Slam tournaments in her career, including the US Open three times. In 2009, she received an invitation to participate, after maternity leave.
Clijsters also won the Australian Open in 2011, then withdrew at the end of 2012 and began her comeback in early 2020, before the long hiatus caused by the coronavirus. After seven years of absence, she is no longer ranked by the WTA.
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