New year, new goals for Simona Halep.
In an exclusive interview with Donald McRae of the Guardian, the Romanian opens up about life as a Grand Slam champion and how she is learning to relax after making her tennis dream come true last year at Roland Garros.
“Everything I did in life, until now, was just for tennis. Nothing else mattered. That’s why it became too much, maybe. That’s why I suffered,” Halep told McRae, adding: “Now I’ve won a grand slam and I start to enjoy life more. I like to go out, make friendships. I’m more open.”
Halep, who is the top seed at this week’s Sydney International, is still without a coach after parting ways with Darren Cahill last year. But the Romanian knows that can’t go on forever.
She told McRae that eventually she’ll need to find a coach because in elite tennis it is impossible to go it alone. When asked if she might reunite with Cahill, she said: “I don’t know. I can say I hope so because he’s a great person and that matters the most.”
Halep says that even though she has accomplished her biggest dream by winning the Roland Garros title in 2018, she still wants to dedicate herself to tennis and hopefully achieve more goals. Halep has long claimed that the Olympics in 2020 will be important to her, and she told McRae that she wants to help Romania win the Fed Cup.
“Now I would love to be better in Fed Cup, to dream of the title, and the Olympics in 2020,” she said.
Halep also says she wants to win more majors, but she doesn’t want to put the same pressure on herself. She’s happy to have a great weight off her shoulders, and she’d like to keep it that way. “I also want to win a grand slam again, to finish No 1 again,” she said. “But I won’t put pressure on myself.” Ne