By Chris Oddo | Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Simona Halep had to deal with two opponents during her three-set win over Caroline Garcia on Tuesday in Sydney. The rising Frenchwoman was more than enough to keep her busy (Halep eventually prevailed after a brilliant third set, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1), but the nagging Achilles injury that sidelined her in Brisbane reared its ugly head again.
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An unwelcome visitor is never wanted, but Halep is learning that if she is to have any hopes of making a deep run at next week’s Australian Open, she’s going to have to grin and bear the pain. The injury already caused her to pull out of Brisbane, and apparently the rest that Halep took last week has not improved her situation.
With no relief in sight, we should probably expect Halep to spend quite a bit of quality time with the trainers at changeovers. But how much can the Romanian handle? She plays a gritty game that relies on patience, footwork and fitness, and with a nagging inflammation causing her to question whether or not she’s doing the right thing in her quest to stay in the game and start off her season with a major run, it’s really not clear if she’s going to make it through the Australian Open without either pulling out or playing subpar tennis because of the pain and residual mental anguish that she’ll suffer.
“It’s tough to play with the pain because I got a little bit scared,” she admitted after her victory over Garcia. “When you have pain you always get scared because you don’t know what is going to happen.”
Halep, who said the injury bothered her last year as well, has also suffered in practice.
“I felt actually yesterday during the practice the same thing,” Halep said. “Five minutes pain, five minutes without pain. So yeah, I don’t know exactly what this is. MRI showed that I have just an inflammation and I can keep playing, so I will do my best and I will try to be there, to stay focused.”
Halep will need that focus tonight, as she faces fifth-seeded Karolina Pliskova on Ken Rosewall Arena in the second match of the day. Halep has proven to be one of the grittiest competitors in the women’s game over the last few years, but that grit will be put to the test over the next three weeks. In the grueling Aussis summer, there’s no rest for the wicked.