By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday October 27, 2021
It has been a rough season for Simona Halep in 2021. She was forced to miss Roland-Garros and Wimbledon – the two Slams she has previously triumphed at – due to a calf injury, then also missed the Olympics – and the international competition she has stated a strong desire to compete in – due to the same injury.
But things are on the up for the Romanian in October. She was married last month to Toni Iuric, and she finally finds herself in good spirits while playing the Transylvania Open on home soil in Cluj-napoca, Romania.
"I'm improving day by day, and I feel more confident during the tournaments, during the matches," Halep said after her 6-1, 6-2 victory over Elena-Gabriela Ruse on Wednesday. "I think I started to feel again my best game, of course it's never easy after a long period that I didn't play matches, but now I'm focused only on what I feel today, and I feel good.
"It's already passed with injuries so I'm trying to take the positives with every match."
Goals for the Rest of 2021 – Get the Confidence Again
Halep’s remarkable streak of 373 consecutive weeks in the Top-10 (8th longest in WTA history) came to an end in August, and the Romanian knows she needs to rebuild her confidence in order to build another streak. Moving forward without longtime coach Darren Cahill at the helm will be challenging, which explains why Halep, currently ranked 18, is playing a heavy schedule down the stretch even though she has not qualified for the WTA Finals.
She was asked about it in her post-match press conference today, by Tennis.com’s David Kane.
"Just to get the feeling back of the official matches, I didn't play much this year and I really would like to get that feeling back and to get the confidence, so this is the only one goal,” she said.
“I’m Still Motivated” – No Plans to Slow Down for Halep
Some speculated that Halep may dial down her intensity or maybe even step away from the tour to start a family after she married Iuric in September. But Halep assured the media today that she is motivated to return to the top of the game.
"Many people were talking about that but I never said that I will go down after the wedding party, I'm still motivated, I still love tennis, my husband is next to me all the time and I'm happy, I'm just happy to stay on court, to play and to have matches,” she said.