Simona Halep will make her come-back to the court next week at the Prague Open. The Prague Open will feature six top 30 players.
Halep will play her first match in six months. It will be her first appearance at the International-level tournament. The 2019 Wimbledon champion claimed her 20th career title in Dubai last February. The Romanian player saved a match point against Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur in the second round and came back from a set down in her win over Elena Rybakina in the final.
The Main Draw of the Prague Open was released on Saturday. Halep will start her Prague campaign against Slovenia’s Polona Hercog. In the second round the winner of the match between Halep and Hercog will meet either Patricia Maria Tig or Barbora Krejicikova. The other top seeds are Petra Martic, Elise Mertens, Dayana Yastremska and Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Halep has announced that she will not travel to New York for the US Open.
“I don’t know yeti f I will go to America. In the current situation, I will not go there !. Health is the most important and no one can judge anybody when they make a personal decision. I wished a lot for the tournaments to start. I am a little stressed out, but I think it will be fine. I took the test and got the negative result yesterday. A Case can appear from anywhere, but I don’t want to think negatively. I want to see the good side and the fact that we can play tournaments. Maybe I wasn’t prepared mentally. Now I am feeling better, so I am 100% convinced that I can play. I am happy to be in Prague and let’s enjoy it”, said Halep.
In the bottom half of the draw number 2 seed and world number 15 Petra Martic from Croatia will play against Russia’s Varvara Gracheva. Martic lost to Anett Kontaveit in the semifinal in Palermo this week. The winner of the match between Martic and Gracheva will face either Krystina Pliskova or 15-year-old Linda Fruvirtova.
Number 3 seed Elise Mertens will take on Italy’s Jasmine Paolini. The winner of this match will face either this week’s Palermo semifinalist Camila Giorgi or a qualifier.
Number 4 seed Dayana Yastremska, who reached the quarter final in Palermo, will meet Romania’s Irina Camelia Begu. The top 30 entries is rounded out by Ekaterina Alexandrova and Anastasya Pavlyuchenkova.
Barbora Strycova will take on Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo in the first round.
The other top Czech players in the field are Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.
Former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard from Canada will face Veronika Kudemertova from Russia.
The Prague Open will be held behind closed doors.
