A day after Halep conquered the Prague Open title, beating No.3 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-2, 7-5, World No. 2 Simona Halep announced that she will not be travelling to the United States to take part in the 2020 US Open.
She announced the news through Twitter thread-
“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 Us Open. 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 wrote.
Halep is one of the major stars who will miss the US Open this year which begins on August 31st. World Number one Ash Barty, defending champion Bianca Andreescu have also withdrawn from the tournament. Other players who will miss US Open 2020 are No. 5 Elina Svitolina, No. 7 Kiki Bertens and No. 8 Belinda Bencic.
Irina Khromacheva of Russia will replace Halep in the main draw.
