Kirsten Flipkens has retired from the Yarra Valley Classic. The Belgian published the update on her social media channels the day before the start of the WTA 500 tournament on January 31 in Melbourne.
Flipkens played against Yaroslava Shvedova in the first round of the event. In her post, Flipkens said, “Sad to say I had to withdraw from the upcoming ‘Yarra Valley.” The past two weeks have been challenging for me as I was in quarantine and couldn’t get treatment for the first part.
After that time was limited to 15 minutes a day… ”Flipkens also said that she did her best in rehab to be ready to attend this event. “Although I did everything I could by myself (ice, lifting, exercises, …), unfortunately that was not enough and did not give me enough time to recover to prepare my ankle for the tournament,” said Flipkens.
Kirsten Flipken’s injury update
However, the 35-year-old assured that she would do her best to be ready for the Australian Open after consulting with medical authorities after leaving the two-week quarantine.
“As I am not in quarantine and have seen the medical team here, I can now receive the full medical treatment and attention this injury needs in order to prepare for the Australian Open.
Thank you for your support and most importantly, stay safe. Because in the end a healthy body is your greatest asset. Flipkens’ ankle injury occurred in her second round match against Sofia Kenin at the WTA Women’s Tennis Open in Abu Dhabi in early January.
The former number 13 in the world had stumbled on a billboard on the pitch and had to retire in the middle of the game. Later, in an update on her health, Flipkens said she had a partial tear in the ATFL ligament along with stress and edema. She achieved Kirsten Flipkens’ best result at the Australian Open in 2013 when she reached the fourth round.
