Simona Halep follows Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem in withdrawing from Tokyo Olympics
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Updated 28/06/2021 at 19:59 GMT
World No 3 Simona Halep will not be competing at the Olympics Games. Halep has not played since suffering a calf injury at the Italian Open in May and will follow Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem in missing the Games. Halep has not been fit enough to defend her title at Wimbledon, which started this week.
Simona Halep
Image credit: Getty Images
Simona Halep has become the latest big-name player to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics.
World No 3 Halep has not played since suffering a calf injury at the Italian Open last month.
She had travelled to London in the hope that she would be fit to defend her Wimbledon title, but she withdrew from the tournament as the injury was not “fully recovered”.
Halep will now also miss the Olympics, where she was due to be Romania’s flag bearer.
"Nothing brings me more pride than representing Romania," she wrote on Twitter.
"But sadly the recovery from my calf injury requires more time and I have made the decision to withdraw from the Olympic Games this summer. After the disappointment of missing the French Open and Wimbledon, having to skip the Olympics is incredibly tough to digest, but I am determined to come back stronger. I will be watching and cheering on the Romanian athletes from home."
Mihai Covaliu, president of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee, told TVR: “Simona Halep will not participate, she will not be the flag bearer of Romania. We are very sad, we know how much Simona wanted to participate in the Olympic Games.
“She put everything aside for this purpose.”
The tennis tournament in Tokyo runs from July 24 to August 1 and Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem are among the other players to have withdrawn from the event.
Halep spoke after winning Wimbledon in 2019 about her desire to add an Olympic medal to her CV.
“I want to win any medal in the Olympics to fulfil everything I have done in tennis,” she said.
“It is a chance to play for my country and I have always loved to do that. The disappointment from [losing in Fed Cup in 2019] really hurt me so to play well to get a medal, it would be a dream.”
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