Ten things to know about Kirsten Flipkens

In April 2012, Flipkens stepped off a flight from Thailand to Belgium after a tournament and felt a heaviness in her legs. On examination, doctors discovered four blood clots in her calves. Two days later, she was due to take another flight to Japan. Had she got on that plane, she was told, there was a strong possibility she might not have gotten off it alive. As a result, she did not play for two months and her ranking dropped to no. 262. She also lost her funding from the Belgian Tennis Federation.