Simona Halep: "Losing 2017 Roland Garros final was most depressive moment for me"

WTA
Friday, 15 April 2022 at 11:40
Updated at Friday, 01 November 2024 at 22:39
Halep Simona Dubai2022 FlorinBaltatoiu8

Simona Halep is already a very experienced player in the Grand Slam finals and a two-time Grand Slam champion, but the Romanian lost her first 3 Grand Slam titles before eventually winning her first title.

In 2014, Simona Halep reached her first Grand Slam final at the Roland Garros and lost to Maria Sharapova in three sets. Three years later, at the same tournament, she lost again in three sets, this time to Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko.

In 2018, she reached another Grand Slam final and lost again in three sets to Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki at the Australian Open, but at the 2018 Roland Garros, she finally won her first Grand Slam trophy after defeating America's Sloane Stephens.

Having confidence after breaking a three-match losing streak in the Grand Slam finals, Halep then added one more title at the 2019 Wimbledon when she defeated the legendary Serena Williams 6-2, 6-2.

In a recent interview with TopCourt, the Romanian opened up about her feelings after losing her first three Grand Slam finals, something that was difficult to overcome for her mentally.

"Before winning the first Grand Slam, I lost another final at the French Open. I was leading the match. It was the most depressive moment for me, three months I couldn't be happy. I couldn't enjoy anymore, because sometimes during the sleep, I was waking up crying."
"I knew I had the chance in my hands. I was like 6-3, 3-0 up and I lost the match. But I knew that I have to keep working. I didn't give up practice. Next day I went on court and I was working hard. But then, I lost another final in January but I was very close."
"And then I really believed that the day will come and I just kept working. And the next Grand Slam I played, I won it."
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