Kim Clijsters has announced her retirement from tennis for the third time.

The Belgian, who first retired in 2007 to start a family, returned in 2009 and won three more Grand Slams before her second retirement in 2012.

She returned to tennis in 2019 but only played five matches as her return coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Clijsters won 41 WTA titles and spent 20 weeks as world number one in her two previous spells.

She won two doubles Grand Slam titles and the US Open in 2005 before having her first child, returning to the sport to win two more US open titles as well as the Australian Open in 2011.

The 38-year-old retired again in 2012 and had two more children before her return to the tour in 2019

Her last official match was in October last year, when she lost to Katerina Siniakova in the first round at Indian Wells.

Clijsters posted on social media to say retirement would enable her to focus more on family life.