Injury Forces Clijsters Out of Indian Wells

Written by: Staff on 15th February 2012

Injury Forces Clijsters Out of Indian Wells

Kim Clijsters of Belgium returns to Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in their quarter final match at the Rod Laver Arena, at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 24 January 2012. EPA/DAVID CROSLING |

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The curse of injury that seems to have attached itself to the final lap of Kim Clijsters’ career has struck again with the 28 year-old Belgian announcing she has been forced to withdraw from next month’s BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells because of an injured left ankle.

Clijsters, who has made it clear she intends to retire at the end of the 2012 season to concentrate exclusively on family life, injured her ankle against Li Na at the Australian Open last month but valiantly played on in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to defend her title.

The elite Californian event was due to be Clijster’s first appearance since losing to eventual Aussie Open champion Victoria Azarenka at the semi-final stage in Melbourne.

I’m very disappointed,” said the former world no.1 in a statement. “Indian Wells has been a very special tournament for me, winning in 2003 and again in 2005 when I returned from injury.

“I have great memories of Indian Wells and have always enjoyed the fan support there. I wish the tournament a great success this year.”

Last year Clijsters was forced to walk off court at Indian Wells when she found it impossible to play on against Marion Bartoli because of an injured shoulder. Wrist and abdominal injuries followed before she suffered an ankle injury while dancing at a relative’s wedding and missed most of the clay-court season before the French Open.

She won just one match at Roland Garros and then aggravated the ankle injury playing at ‘s- Hertogenbosch which ultimately ruled out Wimbledon. After taking the tail end of 2011 off in a bid to be fully fit for the New Year, the injured hip sustained at the Brisbane International cast doubts over her ability to defend the Australian Open.

As a result of dropping title ranking points in Melbourne and months of inactivity during 2011, Clijsters’ ranking has dropped to 34th position on the WTA computer but she is intent on being fit for the Sony Ericsson Open which begins in Key Biscayne on March 20.

Aside from a desire to add to her collection of four major titles (three U.S. Opens and the 2011 Australian Open) Clijsters remains committed to her long avowed target of a gold medal at the London Olympics.

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