Halep's China woes continue with Wuhan retirement

Wimbledon champion Simona Halep was left disappointed Wednesday after suffering a fresh injury setback in China that forced her to retire from the Wuhan Open with a lower back problem.

Halep said the problem that caused her to quit her third-round match felt different to the herniated disc she had suffered at the China Open in Beijing a year ago which brought an early end to the Romanian's 2018 season.

"It's lower back. I think it's more muscle, but I don't know yet because I haven't checked it properly," said two-time Grand Slam champion Halep.

The world number six led Elena Rybakina by a break and looked on her way to win the first set before her Kazakh opponent drew level.

During the changeover after the ninth game Halep took a medical timeout for treatment to her back, but soon after the former world number one retired while serving at 4-5, 30-30.

"At 4-4, 0-30 with the backhand, I had a sharp pain," Halep revealed.

"I don't know yet, but it looks a little bit different [to the injury I had before], but it's still the same zone.

"I started to play well this tournament. I'm disappointed it happened again with the back."