Clijsters to Retire After US Open

May 23, 2012 03:50 PM EDT

Four-time Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters announced she would retire after the US Open in August.

In a news conference on Tuesday, the Belgian, who has won the US Open three times, said she would end her glittering career on her favorite court.

Clijsters returned to tennis in 2009, after a self-imposed retirement to start a family in 2007. The Belgian, who won her first Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows in 2005, added three more majors on her comeback which included two back-to-back titles at the US Open in 2009 and 2010. She also won the 2011 Australian Open crown. However, since then she has struggled with injuries.

The Belgian, who is married to American basketball player Brian Lynch, has already ruled herself out of this month's French Open with a hip injury. Injury also forced her to miss last year's Wimbledon.

"In principle I will stop playing after the US Open," Clijsters told reporters. "That is where I have had my greatest triumphs and it is therefore very special to me."

"The stadium is only 45 minutes away from our house in the United States and my in-laws will be able to be present."

Clijsters, who was named by Time magazine as one of the 30 Legends in women's tennis, said she is hoping to be fit for Wimbledon as well as the Olympics, which will also be played at the All-England Lawn Tennis club, before signing off at Flushing Meadows. 

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