Simona Halep spent four hours in the hospital after the Australian Open women’s final to receive treatment for dehydration, according to ESPN and her coach Darren Cahill.
The Romanian had a grueling fortnight in Melbourne that included a sprained ankle in the first round, the longest women’s match of the tournament (3:44) in the third round, and an extremely physical three-setter in the semis (d. Kerber) as well as the final (l. Wozniacki).
In total, she spent 14:19 on court, more than the men’s champion Roger Federer, who spent 13:53.
Halep was suffering in hot, humid conditions in the final and needed to have her blood pressure checked between games in the middle of the second set.
During Sunday’s final ESPN reported that they had learned that Halep was admitted to the hospital long after the final, and spent four hours there before being released.
Many wondered during the final why tournament officials didn’t elect to close the roof for the match. The players were given a 10-minute break after the second set due to the tournament’s extreme heat policy.
The roof was closed during Sunday’s final. The tournament explained their reasoning for the closure as follows: