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Former world No. 1 Kim Clijsters announces she is to retire in September
The Belgian has won four grand slam titles during a 13-year career in tennis
Clijsters won three times at the U.S Open, which will be her last tournament
The 28-year-old quit in 2007 before returning to the game in 2009
It will be her second retirement from tennis, but this time former world No. 1 Kim Clijsters insists she is quitting the court for good.
The Belgian has announced she will bow out in September after the U.S. Open, the setting for three of her four grand slam titles.
Clijsters retired in 2007 to give birth to her first daughter, but returned in 2009 to enjoy the most successful period of her career.
The 28-year-old added to her first grand slam in 2005 by securing back-to-back titles at the U.S. Open in 2009 and 2010. She then added the 2011 Australian Open to her roll of honor.
It was during this period that Clijsters regained the No. 1 ranking for the first time in five years, but since then a series of injuries have disrupted her career.
She told a press conference in New York that a swansong in the Big Apple would be a fitting end to her career.
“As it stands I will end my career at the U.S. Open. That is where I enjoyed my greatest triumphs and it is a very special place for me,” she said.
“The stadium is only about 45 minutes away from our house in the United States and my parents-in-law will be able to be present.”
Clijsters announced last month she would miss the clay court season after suffering a hip injury at the Miami Open.
She intends to return for the calendar’s third grand slam, at Wimbledon, and will compete in the London Olympics at the same venue later in the year before calling it a day at Flushing Meadows.
Meanwhile, at the WTA tournament in Strasbourg, there were victories for 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone and Israel’s Shahar Peer.
On the men’s ATP Tour, world No. 7 Tomas Berdych defeated veteran American Andy Roddick 6-1 6-2 at the World Team Cup in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Berdych ensured a point for his native Czech Republic in the team event, while Florian Mayer got defending champions Germany off to a strong start by defeating Croatia’s Ivan Dodig 6-1 6-1.
Serbian pair Viktor Troicki and Janko Tipsarevic also enjoyed victories over Russian duo Dmitry Tursunov and Alex Bogomolov Jr. respectively.
