Original Blog Entry: Finger shelves Henin for Fed Cup singles

NBey6 — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 23:47:01 GMT

Updated: April 24, 2010, 9:46 AM ET

Finger shelves Henin for singles

Associated Press

BRUSSELS -- Justine Henin has broken her left little finger during training and is out of the singles for Belgium's Fed Cup matches against Estonia.

The right-hander plays with a single-handed backhand, but the pain was still enough to rule her out for Saturday's opening singles. If she plays at all, Henin might come back for Sunday's doubles.

Henin said the injury would not have kept her from playing in a regular tour event, but because Belgium has such a strong team, there was no need to force her into the singles matches.

U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters will open the weekend against Maret Ani, and Yanina Wickmayer, ranked 12th in the world, will take Henin's place to play Kaia Kanepi in the second singles.

Henin should be fit to compete in the WTA event in Stuttgart next week. The break occurred on Wednesday but the extent of the injury only became clear on Friday.

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