Cahill on Halep: "The pressure from people in Romania was enormous, you could feel it"
Now retired, Simona Halep bid farewell to professional tennis last month at the WTA 250 tournament in Cluj-Napoca.
The end of her career was marred by recurring knee and shoulder injuries as well as a year-and-a-half suspension for doping.
Her former coach, Darren Cahill, reflected on the period when he coached the Romanian, a former world number one and winner of two Grand Slam titles, at Roland Garros in 2018 and Wimbledon in 2019, in Caroline Garcia's Tennis Insider Club podcast.
"When I started working with her, we had to find ways to make her life easier on the court. She has an incredible track record.
If I'm not mistaken, she spent five or six years in the top 5 without dropping out. For her playing style, every match was tough.
Everyone wanted her to be ranked number 1 in the WTA, everyone wanted to see her win a Grand Slam. She came so close several times.
She suffered painful defeats in Grand Slam tournaments, at Roland Garros, against Ostapenko, where she led by a set and a break (during the 2017 final).
That loss was devastating. She was playing for her first Grand Slam title, she could have become number 1 if she had won that final.
The pressure from people in Romania was enormous, you could feel it. It was intense. We knew she was destined to win a Grand Slam title, but you never know when.
She had lost two Grand Slam finals by then (before losing a third in Melbourne in 2018). I then decided it was important to stay positive, as I was the oldest on the team, the most experienced.
I told her: 'Simona, everything is fine, we will succeed, we keep fighting, we get back on the court, we keep building momentum, smile and enjoy tennis.'
The day after her loss at the 2017 US Open against Sharapova, I saw her and told her: 'The last eight weeks, it's my fault. I tried to be positive. I know you're suffering, I'm suffering too, but inside.'
I started crying and hugged her. She also started crying and told me: 'I've been waiting for this hug for three months and I'm very happy you did this.'
Two weeks later, we went to Asia, Simona played against Sharapova and beat her. All the pressure had been lifted from her shoulders and she could enjoy tennis again.
It wasn't my coaching style, but it taught me an important lesson," he elaborated in recent hours.
I'm romanian and u took Simona to the next level!