TENNIS US OPEN 2014 – 29th of August 2014. M. Lucic-Baroni d. S. Halep 7-6, 6-2. An interview with Simona Halep
Q. Obviously very disappointing for you. If you can talk about the match and kind of what didn’t work for you today.
SIMONA HALEP: She played really well today. I mean, after I had 5-2 and the two set points, she came back really well and she started to hit every ball. Everything was in for her. It wasn’t my best day, but still I did everything I could on court. She was better than me today, so I have to just to keep working every day hard and to look forward for the next one.
Q. Were you a bit surprised at the level that she played?
SIMONA HALEP: Not really, because I knew she was hitting the balls very strong. She’s tall and she serves well. So I knew that she’s a good player. But still, like I said, I wasn’t in a good mood also. I didn’t play my best today. But she deserves to win.
Q. Just considering the level of play that you came into the tournament with and so forth – I know you never have expectations; you want to take it one match at a time and this is why – but how disappointing is it to not get beyond this stage?
SIMONA HALEP: It is, because, you know, on the papers I was the favorite for today to win this match, but every day, every match is another match. So I have to take, like I said, always match by match. I know that in tennis is not easy to think that you can win the title. Everyone can beat you. I understand. I accept this situation. I have just to go forward, because I had many good matches, many good results this year. So is not big, you know, problem that I lost today. It happened, and I have just to continue my way to go far.
Q. When you say that you weren’t in a good mood on the court, did you come to the court more nervous than normal?
SIMONA HALEP: Well, I started pretty good the match. I had 5-2 and two set balls. I started aggressive. I played well. But after that, after she came back really well. I couldn’t hit very long the balls. So was too short, my game. But it happened, and I have just to take like it was. Good mood I didn’t have because, you know, sometimes after you lose a set from 5-2 you lose a little bit of the confidence. But still I tried everything I could.
Q. So from here on out, do you know what your schedule is for the rest of the year?
SIMONA HALEP: Asia. Yeah, China. I will go to play there.
