Kirsten Flipkens pulls out of Yarra Valley Classic because of unhealed ankle injury

Kirsten Flipkens has withdrawn from the Yarra Valley Classic. The Belgian posted the update on her social media channels, a day ahead of the 31st January start of the WTA 500 tournament in Melbourne.

Flipkens was drawn to play Yaroslava Shvedova in the first round of the event.

In her post, Flipkens said, “Sad to say that I had to withdraw from the upcoming ‘Yarra Valley’. The last two weeks have been challenging with being in quarantine and not being able to have treatment for the first part and after that, it was limited to 15 minutes per day…”

Flipkens also said that she had tried her best to treat herself so that she could be ready to play this event. “Although I did everything that I could do myself (ice, elevating, exercises, …) that sadly wasn’t enough and didn’t give me enough time to recover to get my ankle ready for the tournament,” she said.

Kirsten Flipkens' injury update

The 35-year-old, however, assured that she was doing her best to be ready for the Australian Open after being able to consult with the medical authorities after her exit from the two-week quarantine. “Being out of quarantine, and after seeing the medical team here on site, I can now get the full medical treatment and attention this injury needs to get ready for Australian Open. Thanks for your support and most important, stay safe. ‘Cause in the end… a healthy body is your biggest wealth.”

Flipkens’ ankle injury came about in her second-round match against Sofia Kenin at the Abu Dhabi WTA Women’s Tennis Open earlier in January. The former world no. 13 had tripped on an advertisement board placed on the court and had to retire mid-match. Later, in an update about her medical condition, Flipkens said that she had a partial tear in her ATFL ligament along with strain and oedema.

Kirsten Flipkens’ best result at the Australian Open came in 2013 when she reached the fourth round.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2Yt6rQL