Back injury sidelines world No.1 Halep at China Open

A disappointed Simona Halep was unable to complete her first-round match at the China Open on Sunday.

The Romanian, a finalist at the tournament in 2017, entered the event under an injury cloud and only lasted 31 minutes into her match against Tunisian qualifier Ons Jabeur.

The world No.1 received treatment after five games, then retired after losing the first set 6-1.

“I couldn’t move properly, so that’s why I stopped. I don’t know exactly what it is. I will go home. I will have an MRI and I will see,” said Halep.

“Hopefully is not the back, the bones or something like that. I’m just worried now. I feel sad that I couldn’t finish.”

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Jabeur goes on to face Donna Vekic in the second round; Vekic on Saturday beat Maria Sakkari.

“I didn’t want the match to end like this. I wanted a real battle. Unfortunately she was injured. I didn’t look happy because I didn’t want to win this way,” Jabeur said.

“But, of course, I take the win. I hope next time we can play a real match without anyone injured.”

Earlier, defending champion Caroline Garcia survived a first round scare, needing more than three hours to overcome Chinese wildcard Wang Yafan.

.@CaroGarcia moves into @ChinaOpen second round!

Outlasts Wang, 7-6(10), 6-7(4), 6-3 in three-hour marathon! pic.twitter.com/27l2PRHU5u

— WTA (@WTA) September 30, 2018

“It was a very complicated match. I’m playing some good part and then some bad part,” the No.4-seeded Garcia said.

“I found the way to win it. I’m happy about that. I don’t know if it’s going to make difference for the next matches, but I will try to improve and learn from this one, try to play better.”

World No.3 Angelique Kerber was more convincing, posting a comprehensive 6-2 6-2 win over Kristina Mladenovic.

“It’s great to play a good match and be in the next round,” Kerber said.

Other first-round winners today include American Madison Keys, US Open semifinalist Anastasija Sevastova and former WTA Finals champion Dominika Cibulkova.