MELBOURNE — World number two Simona Halep's preparations for the Australian Open were hampered by a long-standing Achilles injury and now the Romanian has picked up a cold just days before her campaign for the year's first grand slam begins.
The 24-year-old withdrew from the Brisbane International last week because of the injury, which also affected her 2015 campaign, but she reached the semi-finals in Sydney on Friday.
Her fitness was given a thorough test against Svetlana Kuznetsova in a tight, two hour, 45-minute contest before she exited the tournament 7-6(5) 4-6 6-3.
Then came the sniffles.