Former world No. 1 Simona Halep revealed she was on the verge of retiring earlier this year but she rediscovered her motivation for the game at the last moment and changed her mind. After a very tough and challenging 2021 season, Halep kicked off her 2022 season in Australia, where she won the Melbourne Summer Set 1 and reached the last-16 at the Australian Open.
In February, Halep reached the Dubai semifinal before losing in the Doha first round the next week. After the Doha loss, Halep notified her close ones that she was likely done with tennis. “I played well in Australia, but then after I lost in Doha, I was down again,” Halep said in an interview with The Guardian.
“I actually told my family and my close ones that I probably am done with tennis because I felt like I have no more power to fight and to stay there to be resilient. Slowly, I just tried to see if I still want it, and I felt like I wanted it but it was very difficult.”
Halep happy to have Patrick Mouratoglou on board
Before Indian Wells and Miami, Halep went to the Mouratoglou Academy, where she asked Mouratoglou if he was interested in working with her. After a conversation with Serena Williams, Mouratoglou notified Halep he was ready to start working her.
“So now that I met Patrick [it] made it a little bit easier. And now I’m really motivated, and I have that desire to keep playing because I feel I can and I feel that I still love it,” Halep added. “So now I’m just trying to rebuild everything I had before and even stronger if it’s possible.
But I take it slow, I take it easy, and just give myself time”. After Halep suffered a second round defeat at the French Open, Mouratoglou took the responsibility for her poor result. Now, Halep is hoping to do well at Wimbledon, where she faces Karolina Muchova in the first round.
