Simona Halep is officially coach-less at this Australian Open.
The world No. 1 is receiving plenty of coaching advice from a familiar face: former coach and ESPN analyst Darren Cahill.
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Since Cahill is not her official coach, he's not permitted to sit in the top seed's support box during matches, but he has been active on the Melbourne practice courts.
"Darren is next to me these days," Halep told the media after sweeping Venus Williams to reach the fourth round. "I don't have a coach. He cannot come to my box because he's not my coach officially. But he's helping me. I really appreciate that.
"I have the Fed Cup captain here, one more coach from Romania. I have a lot of support. I don't feel alone. It's a good atmosphere in my team. I really take it as a big positive."
Cahill, who coached Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt and Halep to the world No. 1 ranking, said on ESPN he believes Halep will have a new coach in place in time for Indian Wells in March.
Could that coach be Cahill himself?
Interestingly, before the tournament began Cahill picked Petra Kvitova to win the Australian Open.
The eighth-seeded Kvitova has not surrendered a set powering into the Melbourne quarterfinals for the first time in seven years.
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