World number one Simona Halep gave up her match against Ons Jabeur after one set at the WTA Premier Tournament in Beijing.
For Simona Halep, the late year 2018 continues to be a rough-and-tumble year. After her opening defeats at the US Open and in Wuhan, she gave up her first round game in Beijing because of a back injury after losing the first set 6-1. Halep had already had his lower back treated at 1:4.
Even before the start of the tournament the French Open winner complained about still existing back pain – the injury she had contracted in Wuhan. Jabeur, who has been playing very well up to now, now meets Donna Vekic after her unexpected second round entry.
Defending champion Caroline Garcia celebrated an important success in the match before. She won against the Chinese wildcard player Yafan Wang after a hard fight with 7:6 (10), 6:7 (4), 6:3 – the match lasted just over three hours.
Garcia had qualified for the WTA Finals last year and made it into the top ten at the last minute after a glorious autumn with tournament victories in Wuhan and Beijing; in Singapore she finally reached the semi-finals. A success, however, which led to too much pressure this year, as Garcia confessed again and again. At the moment the French rider is fourth, but still higher than ever, in the Porsche Race to Singapore she is in 17th place.
The Single Draw from Beijing