The Romanian took the time on media day to field questions from journalists after a lenghty layoff.
Simona Halep is officially back on tour at the Miami Open this week after not playing since she suffered a defeat to Serena Williams at the Australian Open quarterfinals.
“This period is not easy for everybody, I don’t think the players can perform at their highest level but I always said the women’s tour is open, everyone can win a tournament and in the top 10 for sure and also outside of the top 10, I’m not very surprised now that the tournaments are not easy for the players every week in these situations so that’s why I feel like all players have a chance to win the tournament that they play”.
Halep has been a long streak of success where she has reached number one in the world and hasn’t been out of the top 10 for quite some time and she attributes that to her professionalism and her constant physical attention.
“It’s been amazing to say that I have been in the top 10 that long without dropping, and to finish so many years no lower than four it means a lot to me and I think I’ve done a good job because I stay very focused on what I have to do, I have been very professional with what I have to do, my body as well, every time I had a little problem I would take care of it and thank god I have no serious injuries, of course I’ve had injuries playing tournaments every week and that’s why I feel like I had consistency and also my game is based on that, feeling the ball all the time and not missing that much so it’s easy for me every week to have a good level of tennis”
The world number 3 did contract Covid earlier in the year and says she has learned a lot about herself.
” It was a tough year for everybody, I felt it also, I was lucky that I didn’t have bad symptoms so I took it more positive, I have learned that we have live every day because you don’t know what comes tomorrow and that’s why I tried and say that I succeed in enjoying everyday of my life and back home I had a great time with my family, and friends, we didn’t travel that much because I didn’t want to leave, I was home all the time between tournaments, I think we have to keep thinking positive because everything comes a bit more difficult but it’s nice that we can still play tournaments and this gives us hope that soon everything will be back to normal”.
Halep also did speak about the fact that she did in fact get vaccinated for Covid back home.
“I’m a little bit safer now but still I protect myself, we are still in the bubble, it’s exhausting to stay in the bubble every week but we have to respect the rules, I feel more relaxed, more comfortable to travel now and that’s why I decided to come here, I’m also in a better position mentally and I’m happy to be here”.
She is happy to be back in Miami and spoke about the challenges of winning this big event but also spoke about the positives once again of being in the sunshine state.
“The challenge is big and I always wanted this tournament because it’s a nice tournament with good conditions all the time and the atmosphere, the weather is nice so I feel good, I have to dream big and maybe one day I can win this tournament”
Halep enters the Miami Open as the number 3 seed and with that a first round bye before either facing Caroline Garcia or Mihaela Buzarnescu in the second round.