Kim Clijsters May Miss French Open After Injuring Ankle at Wedding Party

Kim Clijsters, who won the last two Grand Slam singles tennis championships, may miss next month’s French Open after injuring her ankle at a cousin’s wedding.

Clijsters, a two-time French Open runner-up from Belgium, was already facing four weeks on the sideline because of shoulder and wrist injuries. The ankle will need at least 4-6 weeks of recovery time, according to a statement posted yesterday on Clijsters’s website.

“Since the French Open starts in literally six weeks, Kim’s presence in Paris is very uncertain,” the statement said. “In the meantime Kim has to continue working on her recovery of a shoulder and wrist injury.”

The statement didn’t provide any details on how Clijsters injured her ankle. It said she tore and strained ligaments, and that “the consequences are rather dire.”

Clijsters, 27, won the U.S. Open in September and captured her fourth Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January. She’s No. 2 in the women’s tennis rankings.

The French Open, which starts May 22 in Paris, is already without 13-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, who has been off the court since July after cutting her foot on a shard of glass in Germany. Williams has had two operations on her foot and last month was treated for a blood clot in her lung.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dan Baynes in Sydney at dbaynes@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Elser at celser@bloomberg.net