Simona Halep and Bianca Andreescu pull out of the 2020 U.S. Open

Two more women’s tennis stars have pulled out of the 2020 U.S. Open, which begins August 31 from Flushing Meadows, New York. Simona Halep of Romania, the number two ranked player in the world and defending Wimbledon champion, won’t be there. Neither will Bianca Andreescu of Canada, the number six player in the world, and defending U.S. Open champion.

Even though it is perfectly understandable why Halep and Andreescu pulled out of the U.S. Open, their decisions could come as a little bit of a surprise. That is because Andreescu confirmed her participation for the U.S. Open on August 4, and then changed her mind on August 13. Meanwhile, Halep just won the Prague Open in the Czech Republic this past weekend, and then pulled out of tennis’s second major of 2020 on Monday.

Halep defeated Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-2, 7-5 in Sunday’s final. Due to the fact the event was on clay, one could argue that Halep was using the event as preparation more for the French Open, which takes place at the end of September, rather than the U.S. Open. Halep won her first career grand slam major at Roland Garros in 2018 as she defeated Sloane Stephens of the United States 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the final.

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According to Yahoo! Sports Australia, Halep stated she plans to stay and train in Europe. Due to coronavirus, she does not feel comfortable traveling to the United States at this time. Andreescu meanwhile argued that coronavirus impacted her ability to properly train for the 2020 U.S. Open. She has not played a competitive match so far in 2020.

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