Halep joins strong Eastbourne field

French Open finalist Simona Halep has been awarded a wildcard entry for next week’s Wimbledon warm-up event at Eastbourne.

Eastbourne will be Halep’s first grasscourt tournament ahead of Wimbledon, starting on July 3, after pulling out of this week’s Birmingham Classic due to an ankle injury.

“I am very much looking forward to playing in Eastbourne,” the 25-year-old Romanian said in a statement.

“The quality of the draw is very high so I’m hoping for some great matches to give me the best possible preparation ahead of Wimbledon.”

World No.2 Halep will be joined by seven other top-10 players including German Angelique Kerber, Karolina Pliskova, defending champion Dominica Cibulkova and Johanna Konta.

Halep enjoyed a strong claycourt season, claiming the Madrid title and reaching the finals at Roland Garros and Rome.

Yet she let slip a 6-4 3-0 lead in the Roland Garros final – as well as a 3-1 lead in the third set – to the unheralded Jelena Ostapenko, who stunned Halep to win her first major title just two days after her 20th birthday.

Many had felt Halep was destined to claim her maiden Grand Slam title in Paris, where she’d also fallen in a thrilling three-set final to Maria Sharapova in 2014.

German tennis writer René Denfeld wondered aloud on Twitter whether Halep – bitterly disappointed after falling short in Paris again – was ready to return to the court.

His question was answered resoundingly by Halep’s Australian coach Darren Cahill.

When Twitter works: pic.twitter.com/EpYdtZ0snF

— Michael Beattie (@michaeljbeattie) June 22, 2017