Kim Clijsters Out Of U.S. Open

Kim Clijsters has withdrawn from the U.S. Open.

The Belgian has won the title for the last two years but her 2011 season has been blighted with injury - which saw her to miss Wimbledon.

She missed SW19 because of an ankle injury but now she has picked up a stomach muscle problem and she will be unable to defend her title in Flushing Meadows.

She pulled out of Toronto and Cincinnati in the hope that two weeks rest would be enough for the injury to heal in time for the final major of 2011.

In a statement Clijsters said: "Unfortunately, I will not be able to defend my US Open title this year.

"Two weeks of rehab was not enough. Obviously I'm very disappointed. I trained very hard this summer and felt in a good shape to play.

"Now there is nothing else I can do than to rest and have treatment every day.

"If a gradual approach is not taken, I will relapse, and therefore I have also no other possibility than to withdraw from the tournaments in Tokyo and Beijing."

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw