Simona Halep forfeit – despite leading 1-0 in sets. In her first clay court tournament
At the WTA 125 Trophée Clarins tournament in Paris, Simona Halep met the American McCartney Kessler, number 123 in the world, in the first.
At the start of the match, Halep showed a solid performance and took the first set 7:5 against the 24-year-old Kessler. But in the middle of the second set, Halep repeatedly grabbed her knee. The Romanian has been repeatedly plagued by knee problems in the last few weeks and therefore had to cancel the tournament in Madrid, for example.
No wildcard for Halep at the French Open
Halep couldn’t go any further against Kessler and when the score was 2:3 in the second set, the 32-year-old Romanian had to give up the match. Another bitter setback in Simona Halep’s comeback journey. On Tuesday she also learned that, despite winning the 2018 tournament, she will not receive a wild card for the French Open. Not for the main draw and not even for qualifying for the Grand Slam tournament.
Nevertheless, Halep was satisfied. “Today will always feel like a victory,” the 32-year-old wrote on social networks. It was only on March 5th that Halep’s ban was reduced from four years to nine months by the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) , and she had served this sentence at that point.
She received a wild card for the tournament in Miami – which not all players liked.
“This isn’t aimed directly at Simona, but if someone intentionally cheats, if someone tests positive for doping… I understand why a tournament would want to have a big star in the tournament. But I don’t think you can give someone a wildcard after the fact should give,” said former world number one Caroline Wozniacki after her first round win against France’s Clara Burel.
