Former number one Kim Clijsters confirmed on Sunday that this edition of Wimbledon will be her last, as the four-time Grand Slam champion prepares to retire from the game for good after the US Open.
“I’m too old to play the game that I want to play physically,” Clijsters said.
“I’ve put my body through enough strain and everything. The lifestyle I’ve had for the last 15-20 years. It’s been great. I wouldn’t change it for a thing,” she said.
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“But I’m not going to be the type of player that’s going to change the way I play or the way that I move. I naturally have that strong movement, powerful shots, and that’s been able to have me on top of women’s tennis.
“Physically I need to be thankful for that, but, yeah, it’s normal that that’s not going to last 20 years.” editions.
Clijsters arrived in London after withdrawing as a precaution from a weekend semifinal in the Netherlands as an old abdominal injury threatened.
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“It was the left abdominal muscle that I pulled, that I tore last year in Toronto. It started to flare up a little bit again and I decided not to risk it by playing the semis,” said Clijsters.
“I decided to pull out of the tournament to give me enough rest to be ready for my first round here,” she said before opening against Jelena Jankovic.
“It will be tough. We’ve had some tough battles in the past. I look forward to it. Not being seeded, obviously it’s possible that you draw a high seed (18th). So you have to be ready from the first match onwards.” The Belgian said that after playing the London Olympics and the Open in New York her life will change dramatically.
“My husband and I, we’d like to expand our family. We would like to have more kids. I own a tennis facility in Belgium that we’re renovating at the moment. That’s going to be a place where I’m going to be spending a lot of time, and I look forward to that,” said Clijsters.
“But I don’t think I’m going to be teaching tennis eight hours a day. But if I can help juniors, some up and coming players to give my experience, then I would be more than happy to help out.”