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Clijsters to retire after US Open

Former world number one Kim Clijsters, seen here in March 2012, announced she is to retire after the US Open in September

Former world number one Kim Clijsters announced on Tuesday she is to retire after the US Open in September. The 28-year-old Belgian told a news conference that she wanted to sign out in New York where she enjoyed the biggest success of her career winning the the women's singles title at Flushing Meadow three times in 2005, 2009 and 2010. "As it stands I will end my career at the US Open, That is where I enjoyed my greatest triumphs and it is a very special place for me," she said. "The stadium is only about 45 minutes away from our house in the United States and my parents-in-law will be able to be present." Clijsters is married to former US basketball player Brian Lynch and the couple have a daughter Jada. She retired for a first time in May, 2007 and gave birth to her daughter before staging a remarkable comeback in 2009 which ended in her triumph at the US Open which she successfully defended the following year. Clijsters also won the Australian Open in 2011, the same year she topped the world rankings for the first time in five years. But she has increasingly been dogged by injuries which caused her to draw down the curtain on the claycourt season and concentrate instead on the London Olympics and the US Open.