TENNIS Internazionali BNL d’Italia – An interview with Simona Halep.
Q: How does it feel to be back here?
SIMONA HALEP: It’s a beautiful tournament here, the crowd, the city, I feel great here. Last year was very important for me to play this tournament because I did semifinal and starting from this tournament I did very well. Here I beat few players which gave me more confidence in myself and that’s why I am in top5 now. It’s a bit of pressure because I have to defend all the point, but I did very well in Madrid last week and now I can be more relaxed and enjoy this tournament and play with beautiful memories. For sure tomorrow the first match will be tough, but I will be on court and I hope to win.
Q: How do you see yourself now than how you saw one year ago?
SIMONA HALEP: My life is changed completely. Last year I was a normal player, around 60 of ranking, and now I ma top10, top5. It’s a big difference but here I enjoy this moment because it’s very special, it’s the best moment in my career and hope to keep relaxed my body during the match and take the pleasure always because that was the secret last year.
Q: What changes outside the court now that you are n°5 of the ranking?
SIMONA HALEP: A lot of things. Everyone knows me now in my country, they congratulates me always on the street everywhere I am. It’s different because now I am top player and I have to be more focused on my job, do the schedule and everything very well. I feel great and of course a lot of interviews but I enjoy this moment as I said and it’s really nice to be here in top.
Q: Your new career starts here one year ago, but since then you have won a lot of points everywhere.
SIMONA HALEP: Here I started to play very well, I did my first semifinal on a big tournament and that’s why I said that here I started playing very well. After Rome I played and won many tournament and I played very well on all surfaces, I have to defend because if I don’t do it I will go down in the ranking. But I enjoy every tournament and I’ll try to do my best everytime.
Q: Did you have good feeling with Rome previous to your semi-final last year?
SIMONA HALEP: I had a juniors also before winning the French Open, I played Bonfiglio and I won that tournament, it was very nice. I also played Trieste when I was twelve and one more I didn’t remember but I have always played well here in Italy.
Q: Heading to the French Open there’s a short list of favourite and you are on that list. How does it feel to go on court and be expected to win?
SIMONA HALEP: Is tough to say because I don’t expect to win the matches, I just want to play my best always, play aggressive, and that’s why I won a lot of matches last year and this year also. The French Open is a big tournament and it’s a Grand Slam and I have pressure every time I go there, but it is also my favourite Slam and I hope that there I can win more matches but it’s not easy.
Q: Are you ok physically?
SIMONA HALEP: I had a little pain in my ankle because I switched it before Fed Cup, but it didn’t matter a lot because I played really well and good matches. Now I feel ok and hope to be for long in this tournament.
