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The 37-year-old Belgian has not managed a win
since coming out of retirement for a second time in February,
2020, and her last match was in the opening round of last year's
U.S. Open in September.
Clijsters was scheduled to return at the WTA 1000 event in Miami
starting this month but has been forced to pull out.
"In October, I had surgery on my right knee to repair damage
sustained over my career and to reduce pain," she said on social
media. "Results following surgery were good - rehab and recovery
went well and I was feeling really positive.
"I had COVID in January and while the symptoms were mild, it did
disrupt my training schedule. Unfortunately, I am not where I
need to be especially if I want to compete with the best."
Clijsters, who won her first Grand Slam title at the 2005 U.S.
Open, first retired from tennis in 2007, taking a break to have
the first of her three children.
She returned to the sport in 2009 and won the U.S Open again as
an unseeded wildcard in her third tournament back.
The Belgian won her third Flushing Meadows title in 2010
followed by an Australian Open the following season before
retiring again in 2012.
"It's disappointing and frustrating," Clijsters said, adding
that she will also miss next month's WTA 500 event in
Charleston, United States.
"I knew this was going to be hard when I started this journey -
and there have been challenges that have been out of my control.
I'm not ready to quit ... I'm going to keep pushing and see
what's possible."
(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; editing by Ed Osmond)
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