Simona Halep Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

Defending champion Simona Halep out of Dubai Championships with back problem

By Zac Wassink | Last updated Mar 4, 2021 3:26 PM ET

Simona Halep, ranked No. 3 in the world, has confirmed via Twitter that she won't play in next week's Dubai Tennis Championships because of a lower back issue:

Wishing the @DubaiDutyFree team and everyone involved a successful tournament and I can’t wait to be back next year
— Simona Halep (@Simona_Halep) March 4, 2021

As noted by Reuters (h/t ESPN), Halep is the defending champion of the Dubai event scheduled to run from March 7-13. The 29-year-old also missed the Qatar Open in Doha and hasn't played a competitive match since she fell to American and all-time great Serena Williams in straight sets in the Australian Open quarterfinals last month.

Halep also won the Dubai tournament in 2015.

World No. 1 Ash Barty is recovering from a leg injury and also won't play in Dubai.

Zac Wassink

Zac Wassink is a longtime sports news writer and PFWA member who began his career in 2006 and has had his work featured on Yardbarker, MSN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. He is also a football and futbol aficionado who is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and who chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. You can find him on X at @ZacWassink

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