Tennis player Kim Clijsters announces her permanent retirement from professional activity | Other sports

Kim Clijsters, the former number one in women’s tennis, announced on Tuesday her final resignation from official competitions and tournaments, after trying for two years to return to the highest level.

“I have decided not to play any other official tournaments (…) thanks to everyone who has supported me over the past two years,” the 38-year-old Belgian wrote on her Instagram account, along with a photo in which she appeared. In front of a landscape a poet with her husband and three children.

The Flemish player, who lives in the United States, explained her decision on the WTA website due to the obligations of the mother of the family that did not comply with the requirements of the competition.

She also wants to support her eldest daughter Jada, 14, in her budding football career.

His last official match dates back to October 7, 2021, where his elimination since entering the WTA 1000 at Indian Wells followed four losses he had sustained since his second return to the competition, in 2020 after seven years without playing.

The Belgian suspended her racket for the first time at the age of 23, in May 2007, before returning in 2009, just one year after the birth of her daughter Jada, to win two copies of the US Open (2009, 2010) after that in 2005, and the Australian Open (2011).

Clijsters had announced her return to the ring in September 2019, but the coronavirus pandemic and a knee injury complicated her mission, as she herself admitted on Tuesday. (Dr)