Injured Halep withdraws from Tokyo Games

LONDON • World No. 3 Simona Halep has become the latest big-name tennis player to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics after the Romanian said she would not recover from a calf injury in time.

Halep - who also pulled out of the ongoing Wimbledon last week - joins 23-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams, men's world No. 3 Rafael Nadal, two-time Major winner Stan Wawrinka, and last year's US Open champion Dominic Thiem in skipping the Games, which begin on July 23.

"Nothing brings me more pride than representing Romania, but sadly the recovery from my calf injury requires more time and I have made the decision to withdraw from the Olympic Games this summer," tweeted the 29-year-old Halep, who suffered an opening-round loss at the London Olympics in 2012 and skipped the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games due to concerns over the Zika virus.

Last month, she exited a clay-court event in Rome after picking up the injury during her second-round match against Angelique Kerber of Germany and was subsequently forced to miss the French Open.

"After the disappointment of missing the French Open and Wimbledon, having to skip the Olympics is incredibly tough to digest, but I am determined to come back stronger," she added.

But world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty will be in Tokyo and will lead Australia's biggest Olympic tennis team as the tennis-mad nation bids for its first medal in 17 years at the Games.

Barty, Australia men's No. 1 Alex de Minaur and world No. 60 Nick Kyrgios are among eight Olympic debutants in the 11-strong team, with former US Open champion Sam Stosur on board for her fifth Games.

"It's something I've always dreamt of and (I'm) obviously super excited to get out there and represent the green and gold," said Barty, who will become Australia's first indigenous tennis Olympian, in a video released by Tennis Australia. "It's a massive, united team and I can't wait to be a part of it."

Barty, de Minaur, Stosur and men's world No. 43 John Millman will compete in both singles and doubles, while Kyrgios will play only singles.

The Tokyo tennis tournament starts on July 24 at Ariake Tennis Park.

REUTERS