The 2011 Wimbledon Championships are shaping up to be a rather healthy year for mostly everyone involved, especially on the men's side where nearly all of the top ranked players in the world will compete at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. It's on the women's side that the only significant hole emerges, and it's a rather large one as No. 2 ranked Kim Clijsters has withdrawn from competing at Wimbledon due to an injury to her right ankle.
The loss of Clijsters definitely opens the field for a young talent to emerge to face Caroline Wozniacki. Then again, the Williams sisters are back and ready to compete at a high level again. Still, Clijsters will be missed. She made the announcement via her website saying:
Kim has no other choice now but to rest, recover and to not play tennis for a few weeks. She has to bow out of Wimbledon, which starts on Monday. In about a month's time Kim will be able to resume training. She wants to prepare fully for the American tournaments later on this summer, mainly eyeing the U.S. Open late August. "It's just so frustrating that this happened right now," Kim said. "I've always enjoyed the particular atmosphere at Wimbledon, but I have no choice but to rest now."
On the men's side, a couple of lower ranked players also were forced to withdraw, including American Sam Querrey, currently the No. 40 ranked player in the world. Querrey made it to the fourth round last year at Wimbledon. Benjamin Becker, the No. 54 ranked player, is also missing from the tournament.