The defending ladies single's champion, Simona Halep, has withdrawn from the grass court event at the All England lawn tennis club.

The Romanian pocket-rocket will not be playing at SW19 as she has been battling to recover from calf injury, she sustained during the second round of the Italian Open.

This also led to her missing out in the French Open at Roland Garros.

Halep confirmed that she will not be competing this year due to her injury not recovering sufficiently in time.

“It is with great sadness that I'm announcing my withdrawal from The Championships as my calf injury has not fully recovered,” she said.

“I gave it everything I had in order to be ready to play Wimbledon and after having such special memories from two years ago, I was excited and honoured to step back on these beautiful courts as defending champion.

“Unfortunately, my body didn't cooperate and I'll have to save that feeling for next year.”

Halep is the second star player to withdraw from the ladies’ singles, following the four-time Grand Slam champion, Naomi Osaka.

In the men’s singles, Rafael Nadal, withdrew from both Wimbledon and the Olympics in order to try and prolong his career.

Wimbledon starts on Monday.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport