World No.1 Simona Halep has a herniated disc in her back and her status is currently up in the air for the remainder of the season. The Romanian announced the news early Tuesday on social media, stating that she had undergone an MRI with doctors at home and plans to discuss a plan of action with her medical team in the upcoming days.
Halep has struggled of late, losing four consecutive matches since reaching the final at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati. At this year’s U.S. Open she became the first top-seeded woman to lose in the first round of the U.S. Open (Kanepi).
She continued to struggle with health during the Asian swing and was a shell of herself during a loss to Dominika Cibulkova at Wuhan—she then retired in her first match at Beijing to Ons Jabeur after dropping the opening set.
But 2018 will still be looked at as a giant success for Halep. She claimed her long awaited first major title at Roland Garros in one of the emotional high points of the season and has held the No.1 ranking since February 26th.
