Simona Halep, #2 WTA player in the world, drops out of U.S. Open due to health concerns related to COVID19

 The 2020 U.S. Tennis Open suffered another loss of a key player today with the announcement by world #2 Simona Halep that she will skip the tourney and stay in Europe.

Halep just won the Praque Open yesterday. 

Photo Credit: si.robi / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)

Although New York City is no longer considered the hotspot for the novel coronavirus that it was last spring, lots of concerns have been raised because of the players who will be entering New York from other parts of the country and the world that still are or becoming hot spots.

In announcing her decision, Halep said, "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 U.S. Open. I always said I would put my health at the heart of my decision."

Halep joins 5 other of the top 8 ranked women in the world in skipping the tourney, included defending champion and #6 Bianca Andreescu, #1 Ash Barty, #5 Elina Svitolina, #7 Kiki Bertens, and #8 Belinda Bencic.