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President of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee (COSR) Mihai Covaliu declared on Monday evening that women's tennis world No. 3 Simona Halep will not participate in the Tokyo Olympic Games.
"Unfortunately, Simona announced us that she will not be able to participate in the Tokyo Olympics. She underwent some detailed tests these days for her [calf] injury and the doctors told her that she won't be able to play tennis for at least four weeks from now. Simona's withdrawal is a great loss for Romania ahead of these Games," Covaliu told AGERPRES.
The statement of the COSR president comes just three days after Halep announced that she was pulling out of the Wimbledon Grand Slam tournament she was a winner of two years ago.
On May 12, the 29-year-old was forced to give up in the second round of the Rome Open, at the score of 6-1, 3-3, 0-30 against Germany's Angelique Kerber, after 57 minutes of play, after picking up a leg injury; Halep also missed the Roland Garros tournament.
On April 14, on the 100-day milestone to the start of the Tokyo Olympics, Halep was stating in a Facebook post that her only dream is to be the best in the supreme competition.
"100 days to go and one dream, to be the best at the Olympic Games. I believe that this dream can become a reality because there are thousands of hours of work behind it and a huge desire. To me, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games mean confidence and lots of pride. See you in Tokyo, I too am Team Romania," she said back then.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Tokyo Olympics have been rescheduled from 2020 to July 23 to August 8, 2021.
Halep participated in the 2012 Olympic Games in London, being defeated in the opening round, and did not take part in the 2016 Rio Games.
