Simona Halep diagnosed with coronavirus

Simona Halep (Robbie Saurus, Wikimedia Commons)

Simona Halep, the world’s second-ranked tennis player, has tested positive for coronavirus according to the Associated Press on Saturday. Halep, who is 29 years old, is recovering from the nasty disease, and at this time is showing mild symptoms.

Halep is the third WTA player we know who has tested positive for the disease. There was an unnamed WTA player who tested positive leading up to the Palermo Open in August, and according to Tennis World, Fiona Ferro of France tested positive earlier last week.

There have been 250, 704 cases of coronavirus in the country of Romania, and 7153 deaths. Of the 250, 704 cases, there are 66, 190 active cases.

Ironically, Halep withdrew from the U.S. Open earlier this year because of concerns of travelling to the United States during a time of the pandemic. She did compete in the French Open last month, but lost in the fourth round to eventual champion, Iga Swiatek of Poland, 6-1, 6-2. In Halep’s other grand slam result in 2020, she reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in January, before losing to Garbine Muguruza of Spain, 7-6, 7-5.

Halep has won three tournaments during the season-shortened 2020 tennis calendar. She beat Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 in February; Elise Mertens of Belgium in the final of the Prague Open, 6-2, 7-5, in August; and Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic in the final of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (the Italian Open), 6-0, 2-1 in September. A two-time Grand Slam singles champion, Halep won the French Open in 2018, and Wimbledon in 2019.

The only player ranked higher in the world than Halep on the WTA Tour at the moment is Ashleigh Barty of Australia. Since tennis’s resumption, Barty decided not to play any tournaments throughout the rest of the year in 2020, due to concerns about travelling internationally during the pandemic.

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