Injured Clijsters out of Wimbledon

Belgian announces recurrence of foot injury sustained at wedding dance on day she is named Wimbledon number two seed.

Clijsters
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Clijsters will not get the chance to add to the Australian Open she won at the start of the year [GALLO/GETTY]

Australian Open champion Kim Clijsters has withdrawn from Wimbledon because of a foot injury.

The second-ranked Belgian, who was seeded number two on Wednesday, said she had to pull out of the grasscourt Grand Slam after re-injuring her right foot at the Unicef Open in the Netherlands on Tuesday.

“At this moment I feel frustrated that it has to happen now before one of my favourite tournaments,” Clijsters said.

“I’ve always enjoyed being a part of the Wimbledon atmosphere but I have no other choice now but to rest, recover and to not play tennis for a few weeks.”

The two-time US Open winner hurt her right ankle in April while dancing barefoot at her cousin’s wedding.

She played at the French Open last month but lost in the second round.

Venus beats Ana

Meanwhile Venus Williams moved closer to top form with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Ana Ivanovic in a battle of former number one players at the Eastbourne grasscourt event.

Victory for the five-time Wimbledon winner, who is joining her sister Serena in a return from long-term absence this week, took her into the quarter-finals at the Wimbledon warm-up event on the English south coast.

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Venus’ return came at a bad time for fellow former number one Ana Ivanovic [GALLO/GETTY]

“I feel I’m playing very tough, playing well on big points,” said Venus, who last competed at the tournament 13 years ago.

“These matches have been huge and crucial for me to just get back literally into the swing of things. I’m focusing on all the positives, and I think there’s a lot of them.

“Taking the amount of time off (five months) I have taken, it’s so important to focus on those positives.”

Third seed Victoria Azarenka eliminated the last of the British players as she put out Elena Baltacha 7-1, 7-6, while Czech fifth seed Petra Kvitova defeated holder Ekaterina Makarova 7-6, 7-6.

Australian Samantha Stosur, the number seven seed, beat young Serb Bojana Jovanovski 6-3, 6-2.

Current and former Roland Garros winners were due on court later, with 2011 Paris champion Li Na facing Slovak Daniela Hantuchova and last year’s champion Francesca Schiavone playing Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.

In the men’s draw, Bulgarian Gregor Dimitrov upset South African sixth seed Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-2.

Source: News Agencies