A fitter and stronger Simona Halep is hoping an improved serve will compensate for her loss of match practice entering next week's Australian Open.
The world No.3 cut a dejected figure on Tuesday after being forced to withdraw from the Sydney International with gastroenteritis.
Halep had been top seed and eager to continue her winning run in 2015 after opening the season in style in Shenzhen by landing her ninth career title.
But it was in China where Halep first fell ill, the 23-year-old conceding she'd suffered through her 6-2 6-2 rout of Swiss Timea Bacsinszky in their weekend final.
"I feel like I cannot play. I was waiting until today to see if I'm ready or not but really cannot play," Halep said.
"So it's tough to start the tournament, so I decided to retire."
Halep remains optimistic about her chances at Melbourne Park after reaching her maiden grand slam final last year in Paris, falling in three sets to Maria Sharapova.
"But I feel sad now because I cannot play this tournament," she said.
"I came here to play all the tournaments so it's not good to stop. I didn't play already for three days.
"But I have to recover first myself and then think about tennis."
She may not be a household name in Australia, but Halep nevertheless looms as a frontline contender to break through at the season's first major.
The Romanian acknowledged her rise up the rankings would bring extra pressure, but said it was no coincidence she didn't drop a set in five matches in China after spending her off-season working on her serve and physical conditioning.
"I can say that I worked with my serve and I was improving a lot," Halep said.
"I was working with my body also to be stronger."
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