Johannesburg in South Africa was going to play host to the ‘Africa Cares’ tournament in December. The tournament was aimed to popularize the sport in South Africa. With names like Simona Halep, Venus Williams, and Martina Hingis joining in, the world looked forward to Africa Cares.

Additionally, its objective was to raise awareness against gender-based violence.

However, the former World No. 1, Simona Halep recently withdrew from the tournament. Recently, a new variant of COVID-19 was discovered in South Africa. Consequently, several countries prohibited travelers from South Africa last week.

Simona Halep is concerned and cancels trip to Africa

Halep would have joined other tennis greats in Africa for the tournament next month. In an interview on the show Ace of Tennis, Simona Halep revealed that she is not going to Africa for the exhibition tournament. “I cancelled, I’m not going anymore. I don’t know if the event was cancelled, I don’t want to talk nonsense,” Halep said.

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Furthermore, Halep admits that she feels afraid for her health regarding the situation in South Africa. “I’m not going anymore, because I’m afraid. I don’t want to risk anything,” she said.

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Halep had announced her participation in the tournament alongside Venus Williams and Martina Hingis. Not only are all three women former World No. 1 players, but they also have a combined 14 Grand Slam titles among them.

Halep wants to avoid quarantining

Countries around the world have undertaken strict guidelines and prohibitions because of the new variant. Moreover, for Simona herself, returning from the tournament would have meant a fortnight of quarantine.

Consequently, she would have missed all of her winter holidays as a result of this.

Tennis has the longest season across all sports. Gearing up to play in Australia in January, Halep does not want to miss out on any lead-up tournaments, or the holidays of the new year.

It is a certainly a setback for the Africa Cares tournament. Furthermore, it is sadder for fans who will have to wait a lot longer now to see the Romanian star play.

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