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Simona Halep (28 years old, 2 WTA) postpones her return to the field after a five-month break caused by the coronavirus pandemic. She will not take part in the tournament in Palermo, scheduled to start on August 3.

Simona Halep posted a message on Facebook announcing that she will not participate in the competition in Sicily, where she would have been the main favorite.

Given the recent increase in COVID-19 cases in Romania and the fear of international air travel during this period, I made the difficult decision to withdraw from the tournament in Palermo. I want to thank the director of the field and the Minister of Health of Italy for the efforts made for me and I hope that the tournament will be a success.
– Simona Halep

Because the Italians imposed a mandatory quarantine for all Romanians entering the country, the organizers of the tournament obtained a waiver for Halep, but our athlete decided not to participate.
Johanna Konta, Petra Martic, Anett Kontaveit, Elise Mertens, Maria Sakkari, Donna Vekic, Jelena Ostapenko, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Kristina Mladenovic, Karolina Muchova, Veronika Kudermetova also entered the tournament.

“I have received bitter news of Halep’s decision. On Saturday we were optimistic and informed the staff of Halep that professional athletes are not obliged to be in quarantine “, said Oliviero Palma, the director of the tournament.

Simona received a direct notification from Ruggero Razza, the regional health manager of Sicily, informing her that the quarantine measure does not apply to professional workers, and therefore not to tennis players. However, her staff only communicated the final decision to us, thwarting all our efforts. We are upset and deeply disappointed!
– Oliviero Palma, tournament director.

Halep also announced his participation in the tournament in Prague (August 10-16), but it remains to be seen if he will go to the competition in the Czech Republic.