Injured Halep pulls out of China

World No. 1 Simona Halep said that she was “worried now” after a persistent back problem forced her out of the China Open after just 31 miserable minutes yesterday.

The Romanian never looked comfortable against Tunisian qualifier Ons Jabeur, losing the opening set of their first-round match 6-1 before calling it quits. The 27-yearold Halep suffered a back injury a week ago in Wuhan and she cut a forlorn figure after it ended her Beijing adventure prematurely.