By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday November 11, 2021
Simona Halep's 2021 season has ended with yet another injury, as the Romanian was forced to pull out of Thursday's semifinals in Linz.
Upper Austria Ladies Linz
There was one constant theme for Simona Halep in 2021, unfortunately: injuries. The Romanian, who missed Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and the Olympics due to a calf injury, has now had to call it quits on her 2021 season due to a knee injury that she suffered this week in Austria.
The former World No.1 and two-time Grand Slam champion handed a semifinal walkover to her compatriot Jaqueline Cristian and later took to social media to tell the media about her injury.
“Unfortunately I am not able to play in my semifinal after injuring my knee in my match yesterday,” she wrote on Twitter. “I would do anything to be able to play, but it is swollen and painful and playing will only make it worse.”
Halep fails to claim a WTA title in a season for the first time since 2012. She finishes with a record of 22-10 and a ranking of 22. Halep, who saw her run of 373 consecutive weeks in the Top-10 end this summer, will finish a season outside the Top-20 for the first time since 2012.
The Romania’s run of consecutive weeks in the Top-10 was the eighth-longest in WTA history.
Later on Thursday the Romanian took to social media to break down her 2021 season.
Emotionally Exhausted at the Start of the Season
She referred to the heartbreaking loss of a family member, and said she was emotionally exhausted before she was injured this spring at Rome.
"I was emotionally exhausted for a long period of time," she wrote. "Then I started to suffer some little injuries until the big one came, the calf injury in Rome. I didn't know how to manage it because I had never faced something like that before."
Halep went on to say that the year didn't start well, but that she felt it ended in a positive way, and she is ready to have a great year in 2022. She also thanked Darren Cahill, whom she parted ways with during the season.
Riske to Face Cristian for Title in Linz
It was an odd day in Linz, with only one set being completed. Halep retired, sending Jaqueline Cristian through to the final. The 23-year-old Romanian becomes the fifth lucky loser to reach a WTA final since 2000, but the second in the last two stagings of the Upper Austria Ladies Linz. Coco Gauff won the title in 2019 as a lucky loser.
She will face Alison Riske in the final. The American advanced when Danielle Collins retired after dropping the opening set, 7-5.