The saga of Simona Halep’s nose surgery has taken yet another turn. Halep, who recently slipped down to number three in the world after a first round loss at the Australian Open, has decided to play several events that she was going to miss because of the surgery.
The Romanian was originally scheduled to have the surgery after the Australian Open and would have missed all of February as a result. Then she postponed the surgery so that she could represent Romania this week at the Fed Cup. Now, she has delayed the surgery yet again, and now plans to play her originally scheduled events, Dubai and Doha.
Fighting Through the Pain
Halep has had a rough start to the season, struggling with an ankle injury and was eliminated in the first round of the Australian Open. She has also been dealing with infections in her stomach, nose, and ear, and has apparently been on antibiotics for a while. The world number three admitted that playing in Melbourne was a mistake which only made her condition worse. After the frustration in Melbourne, she opted for surgery to fix the problem.
However, Halep initially postponed the surgery so that she could play in the Fed Cup this weekend, saying that she felt well enough to play. Apparently she is feeling well enough to play on for another month without the surgery. Dubai starts on February 15th, and Doha will take place the week after.
Halep is not too worried about delaying the surgery, saying "It is necessary and would help me, but is not urgent, so I deferred it and can play. I underwent the medical tests and they all came back good, so the doctors told me it could be delayed … That is why I decided to postpone the surgery to play Fed Cup … I am happy to be part of the team with my teammates, as I always liked playing for the national team."
Looking Forward
A potential reason why Halep would risk further illness by postponing is that this is a part of the season where she traditionally does well. She is the defending champion in Dubai and won Doha in her most recent appearance, back in 2014. She skipped the event last year with an injury.
When asked when she would have the surgery, Halep replied "Right now, I don't know. I will play Dubai and Doha, and I think the next ones also. But right now I am only thinking of those two tournaments.”
It is important that Halep is healthy for the next two months, because she has a lot of points to defend. On top of Dubai, Halep is also the defending champion at the Premier Mandatory event in Indian Wells. She has fewer points to defend during the clay season so it could be worth waiting.