Simona Halep’s withdrawal leaves U.S. Open with just four top-10 women
“I always said I would put my health at the heart of my decision and I therefore prefer to stay and train in Europe,” wrote Halep, of Romania.
Halep’s announcement comes two weeks before the tournament’s Aug. 31 start at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York. For the first time in the tournament’s history, the Grand Slam will be staged without spectators. Moreover, players and their limited traveling parties will be subject to strict health and safety protocols to guard against transmission of the virus.
Halep joins world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty of Australia in skipping the tournament. Barty announced late last month that she wouldn’t risk international travel to compete at the U.S. Open amid the pandemic. Reigning women’s champion Bianca Andreescu has also withdrawn.
Halep’s withdrawal leaves just four of the top-10 women in the world in the draw and, no doubt, enhances the odds of Serena Williams claiming her seventh U.S. Open title and 24th major to tie Margaret Court for most all time.
Tracy Austin, a former No. 1 and two-time U.S. Open champion, was among those expressing respect for Halep’s decision via social media. Austin wrote: “Not a surprise @Simona-Halep pulled out of the @usOpen. Simona chose not to go to Rio @Olympics because of Zika Virus. Athletes love to compete but everyone has their comfort level during these unprecedented times.”
The U.S. Open men’s field has also been hit hard by concerns over the virus — and particularly, concerns about the risk of exposure entailed by international travel to New York.
World No. 2 Rafael Nadal, a four-time and defending U.S. Open champion, announced Aug. 4 that he wouldn’t compete this year, citing the ongoing concerns about the coronavirus. In skipping the event, Nadal is passing up an opportunity to tie Roger Federer’s men’s record of 20 major titles.
“The situation is very complicated worldwide, the COVID-19 cases are increasing, it looks like we still don’t have control of it,” Nadal wrote in Twitter postings in Spanish and English.
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic, however, has committed to play despite recently recovering from the coronavirus, which he, his wife and fellow touring pros Viktor Troicki, Grigor Dimitrov and Borna Coric contracted earlier this summer during the Adria Tour, a weeks-long tennis exhibition that Djokovic organized, headlined and kicked off in his native Serbia.
Wimbledon officials announced in spring they were canceling the 2020 edition because of the pandemic, which reduced the number of Grand Slams this season to three at a time when Federer, Williams, Djokovic and Nadal are battling age and younger rivals to extend their respective career tallies of majors titles.
Djokovic, 32, claimed his 17th major at the season’s outset by winning a record eighth Australian Open and seeks to close the gap on Nadal (19) and Federer (20) and ideally surpass them before retiring.
On the women’s side, Williams is without peer in the modern era, with 23 Grand Slam singles titles. Her most recent came in January 2017, at the Australian Open, less than eight months before giving birth to her first child, daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian.
