United States Open champion Kim Clijsters said her decision to retire in two years time was because tennis has stopped her from having the normal body of a 22-year-old.
Clijsters could win back the world number one spot if she takes away Lindsay Davenport’s title at the $650 000 Grand Prix here this week, but that clearly concerns her much less than the state of her health.
She has decided to play the popular German tournament while less than fully fit and it is these kind of pressures which caused her to say she will quit in 2007 even if she wins another Grand Slam.
”You know I would have loved to have had a few more weeks off after the Open, and just to get my body back into shape because I felt really tired,” she said.
”And I think that’s one of the main reasons — I’m not saying it’s the only reason — but that’s one of the main reasons why I think two years [more before retiring]. If I can keep it up at this level, it will be a very big strain on my body.
”You know I’ve never said that tennis is the most important thing in my life. You know I think here’s a lot of other things too. That’s something I’m really looking forward to.
”I’m enjoying the time I’ll be able to play. I’m really looking forward to the championships and also going to Australia again and playing there. But I just think physically it’s a lot more demanding.
”With the matches I’ve played over the last few months, I feel that physically they are getting a lot tougher and I feel it on my body. I’m not recovering as quickly as I did when I was an 18 or 19 years old.
”Maybe that sounds hard to believe, but I don’t have the body of a normal 22-year-old. You know I have a lot of cartilage problems and just little things — and that is something you have to think about and consider.”
Clijsters is seeded to face Davenport in the final on Sunday, but she may need to be in decent shape to get past a likely quarterfinal against an in-form Elena Dementieva, or a possible semifinal against Amelie Mauresmo, the third seed.
And it soon became evident that Clijsters had doubts about her making it all the way. ”Even in America, already a couple of times, I felt some problems with my left Achilles tendon,” she explained.
”I don’t know if it’s because I’m doing a lot more rope skipping which puts a little bit more pressure on the tendon. But I had a scan and I spoke to the medical staff and there’s definitely some fluid in the tendon.
”But that’s something I have to [consider]. I will have a break after this tournament, ten days off and I’m going to have a lot of treatment while I am here.
”It’s something I just have to be careful about. As long as it doesn’t become like a chronic inflamation, then I think it should be okay.
”But I have to watch it each day and from the moment I fell like it’s getting worse and there’s more pain in it, and I’m getting pain in the morning that’s when I have to worry and take it one step further.”
That sounds like a euphemism for pulling out, something which, after the previous withdrawals of both Williams sisters and Maria Sharapova through injury, the tournament can ill afford. – Sapa-AFP