World No.2 Simona Halep is no longer pondering what could have been at this year’s French Open with the help of some valuable advice given to her by Kim Clijsters.
Halep was the favourite going into the final at Roland Garros against Jelena Ostapenko. During the match, the Romanian was leading by 6-4, 3-0, before Ostapenko battled back to win in three sets. The comeback denied Halep her first grand slam final as well as the chance of becoming world No.1. An experience that haunted her for the following weeks.
“I had it in my mind for awhile, and it was like killing me every day. But now I look at it in a positive way,” She told Danielle Rossingh during an interview with forbes.com. “I didn’t lose the finals, I played the finals so I take it like all around.”
The ability to get over her Paris disappointment was aided by advice given by former world No.1 Kim Clijsters. A player who won four grand slam titles during her career. In 2001 Clijsters also narrowly missed out of the Roland Garros title, losing 12-10 in the final set to Jennifer Capriati.
“After the final, I met Kim Clijsters and she told me that she lost four finals before winning a grand slam so maybe I need more time, more experience . I feel that I will have time if I work harder, and I will be better.” Halep explained.
Recovered from her Paris woes, Halep’s immediate focus is on finishing the season strong. This week she suffered a setback at the Wuhan Open, a Premier tournament in China. Seeded second in the draw, she crashed out 6-2, 6-1, to Russia’s Daria Kasatkina on Tuesday. Her second consecutive first match defeat after the US Open, where she fell at the first hurdle to Maria Sharapova.
“I move well, I feel healthy, I have no injuries so I am ready to work.” The 26-year-old pledged. “But also I can say it’s a little bit tough now because it’s the end of the year and I feel a little bit tired mentally maybe. But I feel OK, I feel ready to play three more tournaments and then, done.”
Approaching the end of 2017, Halep currently has a win-loss record of 41-14 this season. Her best result occurred in May when she defended her title at the Madrid Open in Spain.
