"I really like her, she's a complete player," Halep praises Swiatek

Now retired since February after her first-round loss at the Cluj-Napoca tournament against Lucia Bronzetti, Simona Halep—former world No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam champion—is enjoying her free time.

While the end of her career was marked by a doping case and recurring injuries that kept her off the court for many months, the Romanian gave an interview to the local media outlet Golazo.

Halep, who will turn 34 next month, admitted she doesn’t necessarily follow WTA tournaments closely. Still, one player in particular has caught her attention in recent weeks.

"I don’t watch much tennis, but from time to time, I do tune in to matches. I really like Swiatek because she’s a complete player. I watched the Wimbledon final (against Amanda Anisimova) since I was in London to attend the match.

She has excellent positioning and moves very well. I’m analyzing things I never used to analyze when I was a player! I found her strong. Before, if you’d asked me to talk about it, I wouldn’t have noticed all this," Halep explained.

Halep and Swiatek have faced each other four times on the WTA tour. The Polish player won at Roland-Garros in 2020 and Indian Wells in 2022, while the Romanian defeated Swiatek at Roland-Garros in 2019 and the Australian Open in 2021.