WATCH: Two-time Slam champion seen training on Australian Open courts
The Australian Open is still three weeks away, but Simona Halep appears to be giving herself every chance to adjust to the conditions.
Simona Halep endured a tough 2021 season as she was sidelined for three months due to a calf tear suffered at the Italian Open in May.
Now ranked 20th in the world, the 2018 Australian Open runner-up will be hoping to get her 2022 season up and running in positive fashion.
“And we’re back in Mebourne,” Halep tweeted along with a video of her hitting at Melbourne Park, the Australian Open venue.
“Hello new season,” she added.
Halep lost to Caroline Wozniacki at the 2018 event and has since reached the fourth round, the semi-finals and the quarter-finals respectively each year.
The Romanian has also claimed both her Slam titles wince that Melbourne final defeat, claiming Roland Garros immediately after in 2018 and Wimbledon in 2019.
Annnd we’re back in Melbourne.
Hello new season ๐๐ป๐#ausopen | ๐ฅ @AustralianOpen pic.twitter.com/VxK2QLL43j
โ Simona Halep (@Simona_Halep) December 28, 2021
2022 will be Halep’s 12th consecutive appearance at the Australian Open, having debuted in 2011.
The Australian Open is the only Major tournament the 30-year-old has not missed since making her debut there, after skipping the 2020 US Open and being forced to miss the Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 2021.
Halep is one of three Slam champions to headline the Melbourne Summer Set, an event comprised of two WTA 250 events running from 3-9 January with the entry list split between the two tournaments.
Four-time Slam winner Naomi Osaka and US Open champion Emma Raducanu join Halep in kicking off their season in Melbourne.
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