FILE–Romania’s Simona Halep. (Photo by BARBARA GINDL / APA / AFP)
Simona Halep has had surgery on her nose and will not play again this year, the former tennis world number one said on social media on Thursday.
“I don’t know how long the recovery will take,” the 30-year-old Romanian posted on Twitter and Instagram next to a selfie showing her in a hospital bed with a bandaged nose.
“What is sure is that this year I won’t be able to compete in any official tournament.”
Halep said she decided to address her physical problem after dealing with mental issues earlier in the year.
“I have been struggling for a while with nose problems and it got worse in the summer,” she wrote. “The problem made it hard to breath.”
“The only way to solve the problem was to undergo surgery.”
Hi everyone 👋 pic.twitter.com/wfUe7Outym
— Simona Halep (@Simona_Halep) September 15, 2022
Halep won the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon in 2019, but slipped out of the top 20 in May and then lost in the second round at Roland Garros.
“In February, I was very close to stop tennis because I didn’t believe I have enough power to come back to top 10,” she wrote. “I was going through many anxious moments.”
She said she worked on relaxing with coach Patrick Mouratoglou and her form briefly rebounded.
She reached the semifinals at Wimbledon and winning in Toronto to reach No.6 in the rankings in August.
“In only 2 months I was back in the top 10. Goal, achieved!”
She then lost in the first round at the US Open to Ukrainian Daria Snigur.
“When I got to the US Open, I realized I am completely exhausted,” she wrote, blaming her beathing problems.
“My 2022 season is over,” she concluded. “See you on the court, 2023!”.