Kim Clijsters has suffered a massive blow to her aspirations for the US Open after succumbing to yet another injury only weeks before the final Grand Slam of the season.

The 28-year-old Belgian star had to pull out of Wimbledon after suffering a bruised ankle and a damaged tendon, and that followed an ankle injury earlier in the year that forced her to miss weeks of action.

After missing so much tennis the US Open at Flushing Meadow at the end of August became even more important for Clijsters and she would have had an eye on adding to her three titles in the tournament. Those placing US Open tennis bets will have been expecting her to do well.

However, less than three weeks before she is due to defend her US Open title she had to abandon her opening match at the Rogers Cup in Toronto due to an abdominal problem.

She faces a massive race to be fit for the US Open and her coach Wim Fisette has stated she will now not play in the tournament in Cincinnati next week. Those looking at bet on US Open tennis should remember her preparations have been disrupted.

"We won't make it for Cincinnati and hope she'll be able to take part in the US Open," he said.

"This is a real pity as we had been training really hard in the last couple of weeks."

Clijsters is a player who is at home on the hard surface and fully fit she would be one of the favourites to win the US Open title, especially taking into account she is undefeated in her last 20 games of the tournament and looking for a third triumph in a row.