Simona Halep was supposed to play at the 2024 Madrid Open this week, but she won't, as she pulled out of the tournament.
Halpe returned to tennis recently at the Miami Open, where she played a fairly solid match against Paula Badosa. Considering that she had not played for over a year, it was a pretty solid showing, as she actually won a set against the Spaniard.
During the match, Halep took a medical time-out due to a shoulder issue that plagued her for most of the match and is seemingly still plaguing her. Ever since that match, she has opted against playing, withdrawing from a couple of events.
She first withdrew from Oeiras, where she hoped to win a few matches before pivoting back to the top level. She then withdrew from the Madrid Open, which was a painful decision because she loves to play at the WTA 1000 event in the Spanish capital.
Halep herself explained the decision on X, noting that her body wasn't quite ready for it yet.
"Unfortunately my body needs a little more time to be ready and I have made the tough decision not to play in Madrid. Tough because I want to be back on tour asap, but experience tells me not to rush. Thank you to Madrid Open who offered me the wild card and to my fans."
It was expected that it would take the Romanian player some time to ramp up to the highest level. Suffering from a shoulder issue on top of all of that is a complication she didn't need, but she will certainly have the French Open circled in her calendar.
She'll be most looking forward to that event, in addition to the Olympic Games, for which she needs to improve her ranking to qualify.
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