BRUSSELS – The Belgian tennis star Kim Clijsters is to retire before the Beijing Olympics, it was revealed on Friday.

The 22-year-old, who is the current world number 4, made the announcement in an interview with the Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws.

“I see myself stopping in 2007 or early 2008 after the Antwerp Diamond Games,” she said. “Maybe I will still play the Diamond Games in 2008 as a goodbye tournament, but that will be it.”

“My body already has a lot of problems,” she admitted.

Clijsters has been plagued with injuries since 2003, with first a wrist injury and then a damaged knee. In the 2003 season, she played more than 100 singles matches, the first women’s player to do so since 1974.

Her injuries haven’t stopped the Belgian star winning six titles this year, including Toronto last week, and she is the favourite to win the US Open which opens on Monday.

“After the US Open I will reflect on the way I want to live my last two years on the circuit,” she said.

“It might sound odd but it’s all becoming tougher on me – the tournaments, the travelling.”

[Copyright Expatica News 2005]

Subject: Belgian news