WTA: Despite herniated disc: Halep wants to start in Singapore

Simona Halep wants to start at the WTA finals in Singapore (October 21st) despite a herniated disc. In any case, an operation is (for the time being) not an issue.

“I’ve discussed this with my team and my family – and we’ve decided to play there,” Halep told Romanian news agency News.ro, adding: “I’m going to take a week off, do rehab, not play tennis. And then I’ll slowly start training again.” She’s definitely going to travel to the WTA final.

A visit to another doctor confirmed the herniated disc that was diagnosed a few days ago after her assignment at the WTA tournament in Beijing – but a start at the 2018 event for the top eight players in the Southeast Asian city state of Singapore and the defence of the world’s top rankings appealed to the 27-year-old enormously.

“I’m 100 percent motivated. That’s my biggest goal. I’ll do everything I can to end the year as number one,” Halep told the New York Times, commenting on Singapore 2017: “I can do better than I did back then. It’s gonna be great.”

At last year’s season’s closing event, the Romanian had missed the jump to the semi-finals as the best in the industry after two defeats in the group phase.

Halep now stressed that the doctors had given her the green light to participate in the WTA final. “There is no risk of further damage. It’s not dangerous”, said the French Open winner and said: “If I continue to build up the muscles in the appropriate area, the intervertebral disc can be brought back into the correct position. Or she stays where she is. In any case, nothing can get worse.”