How Serena Williams’ former coach brought Simona Halep back from the brink of tennis retirement
Tennis legend Andre Agassi
Simona Halep
The past decade of women’s tennis has been nothing short of seismic. The number of Grand Slam winners has almost doubled to 17 with the arrival of Williams, Halep and Halep. Two World No. 1s have joined the ranks of the top 10 players in the world, at least in men’s singles. The sport has made a habit of winning and losing a lot.
The Grand Slam champion and former World No. 1 Simona Halep is a new name on the men’s and women’s tennis scene. The American has achieved great success in her career, and not just in winning the Grand Slams, but also in major finals.
And even though she has not yet won a major and has been the runner up six times, Halep has proved time and time again that she is a very special player.
She is also one of the most unique talents on the tennis circuit.
When I interviewed her in 2012 on the tenth anniversary of her marriage, Halep had just turned 29 years old. She was riding high and happy, but knew she was back in the big league. She knew she was back where she belonged.
But then, Halep’s husband, Michael (pictured), had a heart attack and she went home. But her dream of being No. 1 was not yet over…
At the time of her marriage, Simona had spent her entire life on the tennis circuit and was on the brink of retirement.
She had the ability to win every match she played after making the grand slam finals at the US Open in 2012. But she knew that she could never win a major until she had two World No. 1s.
Simona had won the French Open a few months earlier and wanted to make a bigger impact on the world stage.
The former top ranked player, who was ranked No. 1 in December 2013 in the world, would not give up on her dream and eventually the dream became a reality.
The dream was to make the big show against Serena Williams and win the grand slam, and Simona is now ranked No. 2 on the ATP Top 10 in men’s singles.
But Simona’s heart was no longer in the game that had brought her happiness since she was a child, and it was not in the sport