Clijsters out for a month with shoulder, wrist strains

Apr 5, 2011, 15:47 GMT

Brussels - Number two Kim Clijsters will miss this month's Fed Cup semi-finals after doctors told her to rest for at least a month to cure right shoulder and wrist injuries she suffered on US hardcourts in March.

The reigning Australian and US Open champion lost a Miami semi last week to eventual champion Victoria Azarenka after being forced to retire in the fourth round at Indian Wells a fortnight earlier.

Clijsters was to have led her nation in the Fed Cup semi-finals in Charleroi against the Czech Republic April 16-17. But her website reported that she now hopes to be ready for the Rome event in May after doctors said she had overstrained both her shoulder and wrist.

'I think this is a great pity,' said Clijsters. 'The Fed Cup is something I was really looking forward to, but I felt that something was out of the ordinary. There were too many minor ailments, one after the other, which did not seem to disappear. Something like that gets into your head.

'I don't want to force anything, because I want to prevent it from becoming chronic. I really want to be there at this year's Roland Garros. Now there is no other option than to rest.'

The 27-year-old said she will not touch a racquet for several weeks and will need physiotherapy and exercises to strengthen the surrounding muscles.

The injury blow also rules the former number one out of the Madrid ATP-WTA tournament in early May, one week before the start of a similar event in Rome on May 9. The French Open begins May 22.

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