Clijsters pulls out of Italian Open
Belgium's Kim Clijsters has failed to recover from a nagging ankle injury and will not take part in next week's Italian Open.
Belgium's Kim Clijsters has failed to recover from a nagging ankle injury and will not take part in next week's Italian Open.
The World Number 2 has been suffering from strained ligaments which she suffered during a relative's wedding and despite winning the Australian Open in January, will be absent from the action in Rome. "We are taking it day by day. I will not in any case play any tournament in May," she told her website.
Clijsters however has her eyes set on the French Open and hopes to recover in time for the event at the Roland Garros. "We will focus on being ready for Roland Garros. I can only say that we hope everything goes well and that I have trained sufficiently to be in Paris."
Clijsters becomes the third big name to pull out of the Italian Open after Serena Williams pulled out due to two operations on her foot world number three Vera Zvonareva did not enter the tournament to begin with.