By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday August 11, 2022

Simona Halep spoke of Serena Williams on Thursday night in Toronto, telling reporters that it isn’t likely that any other player will come close to the legendary American’s achievements. Halep, who faced Serena 12 times in her career, says she felt blessed to play against Williams.



“It was an honor, actually, to play so many matches against her and to share the locker room with her, to share the court,” Halep said. “It's always she's been an inspiration for everybody and for me too. I said this always. I admired her, you know, the power to stay there so many years, to win so much.

“And she's 40 and she's still like fighting for the match. It's unbelievable.”

Halep has contemplated retirement herself, and knows that Serena will have more important things than tennis to keep her busy after her career.

“We're going to miss her, but I think she has many other things, important things in life to go through,” she said. “So I think it's time to, yeah, it's time to stop tennis because she has a life ahead. And she's done unbelievable things in tennis and is going to be the best for all, like forever, I think. Nobody's going to touch the level that she touched.”

The Romanian, who notched one of the biggest wins of her career against Williams in the 2019 Wimbledon final, owns a 2-10 lifetime record against the 23-time major champion. She says that even the losses were positive experiences, however.

“Every time I played her it was a moment that I had to learn some things,” she said. “And I always was trying to take some things from her. She's super professional, super like confident on the court. Super dominant. I think, yeah, she has so many qualities as a player.

“And I remember 2013 when I played against her in semis in Rome. She killed me. But that year she didn't lose a match on clay. So she was the only one who dominated tennis for a few years in a row. And I think that that's not going to happen again.”