CHINA OPEN
Injury halts World No1 Simona Halep
The Romanian’s China Open tournament lasts just 31 minutes in Beijing
Beijing — World No1 Simona Halep is out of the China Open at the first hurdle, retiring with back trouble after losing the first set 6-1 to Ons Jabeur on Sunday. The Romanian’s tournament lasted 31 minutes in Beijing and she never looked comfortable against the Tunisian qualifier. Halep suffered the back injury a week ago in Wuhan. The top-ranked Halep’s early departure is another blow to organisers in the Chinese capital, with Serena Williams missing from the women’s draw and several big names also absent from the men’s event. Holder Caroline Garcia is at least in action, but she survived a scare before defeating wildcard Wang Yafan 7-6 (12/10) 6-7 (4/7) 6-3 to open the defence of her crown. The 24-year-old from France defied a stiff challenge from the home player to labour into round two on Beijing’s hard courts after more than three hours of nervy action. Garcia took the first set on a tie-break after 77 minutes. The fourth-ranked French player and Wang, 78th in the world, went t...
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