World No.1 Simona Halep is hoping that the lessons learnt from her heartbreaking experience at last year’s French Open will elevate her to the next level this time round.
12 months ago the Romanian was on the verge of her maiden grand slam title. Taking on Jelena Ostapenko in the final, Halep was leading the match 6-4, 3-0, before eventually losing to her Latvian opponent. In total Halep has reached the final of three majors, but has lost all of them in three sets. Including one earlier this year to Caroline Wozniacki at the Australian Open.
“I’ve learned that I have to be more aggressive in that position, when I’m leading the match,” the 26-year-old told the Press Association on Thursday.
“I think I was not ready to win the match, but it’s also a good experience. Maybe if I face the same situation in the future, I will be much better.”
Halep enters Roland Garros in search of her second WTA trophy of the season after her triumph at the Shenzhen Open in January. So far, she has won 28 out of 34 matches played in 2018. Her latest tournament was at the Italian Open, in what was a mixed experience. In the semifinals, she defeated Maria Sharapova in what was only her second win against the former world No.1.
“It gives me confidence for sure,” Halep said. “Every time I play against her, it’s a tough match, and the fact that I won the last two matches gives me more confidence.”
A day after the win, Halep was brought crashing back down to earth. A lackluster performance saw her lose 6-0, 6-4, to Elina Svitolina in the final. Fortunately the issue for Halep was more tiredness than injury.
“It was just a little bit of a stiff muscle, not an injury,” she explained. “I was tired a little bit after the semi-finals. I’m feeling good now, and ready to start the tournament.”
The Paris test
Compared to this time 12 months ago, Halep believes she has improved her game. Within that time period, she has claimed the No.1 spot for the first time in her career and has achieved five wins over a top 10 player. She currently leads the WTA rankings by 335 points ahead of second place Caroline Wozniacki.
“I improved a lot, also mentally,” she evaluated. “My game is a little bit stronger, more complete. I feel my movement on court is stronger. I also worked a lot on my serve. It’s not easy to serve, because I’m not that tall, but I’m trying to be more consistent and to deliver heavier serves.”
Halep will start her campaign at the second grand slam of the season against Alison Riske. In her section, she will not play a player ranked higher than 16th seed Elise Mertens during the first round rounds. Kristina Mladenovic, Daria Gavrilova and Andrea Petkovic also lurks in her part of the draw.
Should she win this year’s French Open, which will start on Sunday, Halep would become only the second Romanian female player to win a major title. The first was Virginia Ruzici back in 1978.
