WTA Palermo: Halep cancels, organizers angry
The cancellation of top star Simona Halep was angry with the organizers of the WTA tournament in Palermo. The Romanian had justified her retreat with the increasing number of Corona cases in her home country.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Jul 27, 2020, 12:53 pm
The anticipation was great with Oliviero Palma, the tournament director of the WTA event in Palermo, which should start next Monday. With Simona Halep, Palma had hired the ruling Wimbledon winner, and in the past few days has even obtained a special permit that Halep does not need to be quarantined after her arrival in Italy (as is currently required for entries from Romania).
Halep, however, still canceled Palermo, since the Corona cases in Romania have not developed satisfactorily recently. In addition, they themselves feel a certain degree of uncertainty regarding international air travel in the current situation. The cancellation was not well received in Palermo.
So there was talk of bitterness. "Yesterday we were still optimistic and informed Halep's team that professional tennis players don't have to be quarantined."
It will be exciting to see how Halep handles the WTA tournament in Prague, which is to be held in Palermo during the week. After all, the world number two could travel to the Czech capital by car. Halep's participation in the US Open has become less likely than ever. But the Romanian woman had shown little interest in traveling to New York under the circumstances.