World Number 2 Simona Halep pulls out from US Open due to COVID-19

Simona Halep

World Number 2 women’s star player, Simona Halep has decided that she will not take part in the upcoming US Open 2020, which is scheduled in New York due to rise in COVID-19 cases in America. She confirmed this news on Monday.

After weighing up all the factors involved and with the exceptional circumstances in which we are living, I have decided that I will not travel to New York to play the U.S. Open,” Halep, the reigning Wimbledon champion, wrote on Twitter.

I always said I would put my health at the heart of my decision and I therefore prefer to stay and train in Europe. I know the USTA and WTA have worked tirelessly to put on a safe event and I wish everyone there a successful tournament.”She added.

Her statement came after winning recently held Prague Open where she clinched her 21st title after beating Elise Mertens 6-2, 7-5 in the final.

The Prague Open is the second European Tennis Tournament held amid coronavirus Pandemic. It also gave a ray of hope for all Tennis fans as major tennis events were suspended from March onwards as the entire world is battling with deadly coronavirus at the moment.

Besides her, all the top women’s tennis players have also withdrawn their name from the mega event, which includes the star-studded lineup of top players like world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty, Elina Svitolina (5), Bianca Andreescu (6), Kiki Bertens (7), Belinda Becic (8) .

She also won the award of WTA Most popular player of the year for two consecutive years in 2014 and 2015. She has always made in top 10 women’s players singles ranking in the world from 2014 onwards where she held the first rank in 2017 and 2018.