Former world No. 1 Simona Halep said Thursday she will postpone the start of the 2025 season and miss the Australian Open due to knee and shoulder pain.
Halep, whose career has stalled due to a doping ban that was scaled down on appeal this year, received a wildcard into last week’s Australian Open qualifying tournament. She finished runner-up at the 2018 Melbourne Major.
The 33-year-old was also due to compete in a tune-up tournament in Auckland. Halep last played last week at a World Tennis League exhibition in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
“Unfortunately, after playing in Abu Dhabi, I felt pain in my knee and shoulder again. After a long discussion with the team, we agreed that it made sense to postpone the start of the season,” Halep said. Written on Instagram Story. “It wasn’t what I wanted, but I’d like to thank the tournament organizers in Auckland and Australia for giving me a wild card and I’m sorry I won’t be able to take it this time.”
The Romanian said he plans to return at a home event in Cluj in early February.
Halep was provisionally suspended in October 2022 after testing positive for roxadustat, a banned drug that stimulates red blood cell production, at that year’s US Open.
She was subsequently banned from competing for four years, which was reduced to nine months in March following an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The 2019 Wimbledon champion deliberately refused to take roxadustat and blamed her positive test on a contaminated supplement.
