Simona Halep's season could be over after the world number one was diagnosed with a herniated disc.

Halep retired from her first-round match against Ons Jabeur at the China Open on Sunday due to a recurrence of a back injury after losing the first set .

The French Open champion had been a doubt for the Wuhan Open last week after reportedly doing damage in practice and required treatment as she was hampered during a second-round loss to Dominika Cibulkova.

Halep said she was "worried" following her retirement from the encounter with Jabeur in Beijing.

The Romanian on Tuesday revealed the results of an MRI scan, which would appear to make her a big doubt to play in the WTA Finals in Singapore at the end of this month.

"Hi everyone, wanted to give you a quick update. I had an MRI on my back and found out I have a disk hernia." she tweeted.

"I will discuss with doctors in the next few days but hope to be back soon and will keep you updated."