Paris: Former world No. 1 Kim Clijsters has pulled out of the French Open starting on May 23 because she has not fully recovered from an injury to her left foot, organisers said on Friday.

Belgian Clijsters, who returned to competitive tennis in 2009 after a two-year retirement and lies 10th in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings, reached the final of the claycourt tournament twice, in 2001 and 2003.

Clijsters joins Urszula Radwanska, Sania Mirza, Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Sabine Lisicki on the list of absentees.

The 26-year-old, who has not entered the French Open since reaching the semi-finals in 2006, will be replaced in the main draw by Canada’s Stephanie Dubois.

Her last Grand Slam win came in 2009, when she blasted top players en route to winning the US Open at Flushing Meadows.

“I will continue my recovery to be totally up for the season on grass,” she said on her own website.

“It’s really a shame to give up on Roland Garros.

“Paris is so close I always feel a little at home.

“And that’s where I played my first Grand Slam final.

“But the foot pain forces me to throw in the towel.”

Russian men’s world No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko is struggling with a sore left wrist and has also pulled out, organisers said in a statement.

Davydenko, a semi-finalist in Paris in 2005 and 2007 and a quarter finalist last year, joins US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, Tommy Haas, Igor Andreev and James Blake, all also hampered by injuries.

He has not played in any tournament since the middle of March.