Justine Henin revealed tonight that she will be out of action for around two months because of injury, forcing her to miss next month's US Open. The Belgian felt pain in her right elbow during her fourth-round defeat here by her compatriot Kim Clijsters and medical tests revealed a partial ligament fracture.
It is a significant blow to Henin, who is only six months into her comeback after 18 months of retirement. The 28-year-old, who reached the final of the Australian Open in January in only her second event back, will recuperate at home in Belgium with a view to returning in September.
"Following my fall at Wimbledon, I took several medical examinations that have revealed a partial ligament fracture of the right elbow," Henin said. "This injury will keep me away from the courts for a rough period of two months, with the consequence that I have withdrawn from the US Open. In four weeks I'll take complimentary medical examinations that will give me certainty about the rest of the season."
Henin suffered the injury midway through the first set against Clijsters, seemingly overextending her elbow in the process. After treatment from the tournament doctors, she went on to win the first set but was then outplayed by Clijsters, who won in three sets to reach the quarter-finals. At the time, it looked like the dramatic turnaround was a result purely of a fine performance from the US Open champion but it seems that the injury was worse than first thought.
Henin, a former world No1 who has won seven grand slam titles but has never triumphed at Wimbledon, did not make any excuses for her defeat at the time. "Of course, it was not mentally not easy to deal with it when I fell down," she said then. "But after that, it was warm and I could play. I don't really know how it affected it."