Simona Halep is thriving with change in attitude
PARIS — Often when times get tough a tennis player will fire their coach — after all, someone has to be at fault. But it's rare for a coach to fire the player.
That’s exactly what happened to third seed Simona Halep of Romania while at the Miami Open in March.
Australian Darren Cahill, who solidified a reputation as one of the great tennis minds in the game while coaching Andre Agassi, initially came to know Halep when he worked with her as part of an Adidas project.
Before the 2016 season, Halep asked Cahill if he’d consider becoming her full-time coaching guru. He said yes and the rest is history — sort of.
It turns out that Halep, who pummeled 21st seed Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1, 6-1 to reach the French Open quarterfinals on Monday, is a complex personality, sometimes for the good and oftentimes times for the bad.
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Her game is not the cause of the problems — she’s an aggressive baseline player who adeptly scrambles around the court and hits surprisingly potent groundstrokes considering her diminutive stature. It’s her mentality that is frequently called into question.
She’s passionate, intense, and downright demanding of herself, which together can be a detrimental mixture. It seems, however, to be a common amalgam for many of the Romanian players throughout the years — Ilie Nastase certainly comes to mind.
When Halep. 25. was asked if there was something in the water back in Romania that causes its players to be so high-strung, she laughed.
“I think the blood is the answer,” she said. “We have it. So we don't know. No one told me, be like this. I am just like this because, maybe, I was born with this thing, with the fire in me and myself.”
Cahill accepted the job believing Halep, who he fondly calls “Simo,” was a competitor worthy of winning at the Grand Slams, and even of becoming world No. 1. But by the time they worked together in Miami, about 15 months into the partnership, Halep’s pessimism became too much for Cahill to endure.
The Miami scenario found Halep losing a match she was in position to win. Playing Briton Johanna Konta, the Romanian was serving for their quarterfinal match at 5-4 in the second set, and was again two points from the win at 5-3 in the second set tiebreaker. She called Cahill to the court for a pep talk heading into the third set — WTA rules allow coaching consultation — but spent much of that time belittling herself.
When the match was over and Halep had lost, Cahill surprised her by informing her that just like a naughty child he was putting her in a timeout. Translation: Her bad attitude was unacceptable and he was taking a break from their coaching arrangement.
Cahill’s tough-love separation strategy worked. Halep, reeling from Cahill’s unexpected departure, came to the realization she had to reform. It would be out with the negativity and in with the positivity.
“I think it meant a lot that he took that decision,” Halep said. “Helped me. I just felt that it was like a shock, because I lost the coach. I knew I have to change to have him back. I changed pretty fast.”
Cahill watched from afar as Halep went from a poor start to the 2017 season, she exited the Australian Open in the first round for the second straight year, to where she picked up the pieces after Miami.
She was instrumental in Romania’s 3-2 Fed Cup victory over Britain, posting a win against Konta. Halep, who is ranked No. 4, went on to reach the semifinals of Stuttgart, her first semifinal of the season.
That’s when she put in a call to Cahill asking if he would come back. Working again as a team, she defended her Madrid title and was a finalist in Rome before heading to Paris.
She admits her new confident and composed demeanor is a work in progress, but she is pleased with the improvements.
“I think my [new] attitude helps me to see the game better and to be able to play relaxed and to play more positive,” she said. “I think everything is changed. Also, in my general life. I'm more positive, and helps me. I don't have bad moods anymore, so it's good.”
On Monday, she set up a quarterfinal outing against fifth seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, who came dangerously close to elimination in the fourth round. Svitolina came through with a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 win after her opponent, the 290th-ranked Croatian qualifier Petra Martic, was serving for the match at 5-3 in the third set.
To date, Halep’s lone journey to a Grand Slam final came here at Roland Garros in 2014, where she lost to Maria Sharapova.
If Halep can win three more rounds it would mean more than clutching her first Grand Slam trophy. The victory would also catapult her to the world No. 1 ranking.
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