Roland Garros will be missing at least one former Grand Slam winner as Kim Clijsters has officially announced that she will be skipping the upcoming French Open and could possibly also miss the US Open in August.
Clijsters stated on her official website today that she will not be competing at the French Open, and instead will be here in the United States for her pre-nuptial activities.
“I’ll have to cancel for the French Open as I’ll be in America that week to prepare the wedding party there,” said Clijsters.
Her fiancé Brian Lynch is from the United States and the two will be getting married on July 14 in Belgium.
Her decision to skip Roland Garros is not surprising, given the fact that this is her final season on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, and her best chance to win a second Grand Slam title may just be two weeks later at Wimbledon.
Due to the difficult transition from clay to grass, Clijsters is not willing to risk getting injured before tying the knot a month later.
“I wouldn’t want to get injured weeks before my wedding”, added Clijsters about her decision.
Because of her wedding and subsequent honeymoon, there is now a possibility that she will be skipping the US Open as well.
“The 14th of July is going to be our Big Day: our marriage in Bree. 10 days later, we’ll party in the US as well and after that we’ll be on a two week honeymoon”, said Clijsters. “Therefore it is difficult to know whether or not I’ll be able to make it to the US Open.”
Kim won the title in 2005 at Flushing Meadows, but she skipped the US Open last season because of a left wrist injury.
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