Simona Halep has quickly become one one of the fastest growing names on the WTA tour, and she has no intention of stopping now. The soon-to-be world No. 5 is aiming to win her first Grand Slam title, particularly the French Open.
“My goal, it’s to win in French, French Open.” Halep said following her victory over Dellacqua. “But still so far.”
The top ranked Romanian won the first six titles of her career last year in a breakout season. While she finished the 2013 season at a career high of No. 11, Halep would only get better this year as she made the quarterfinals of the Australian Open — her best result at a Grand Slam tournament — and won the Qatar Open. Halep admits that the key moment for her was the wildcard she was given in Madrid last year following her injury layoff.
“Very important. Three years ago he gave me also for quallies the wildcard, and he’s helping me a lot every time. Yeah, it’s very important to have a chance to play on main draw at big tournaments. So I had the chance, and after that I started to play really well. That was very important moment in my life. Because I came from one big injury at my back, and I started really well after that.”
Halep also mentioned that one of the rewards from her efforts throughout the past 10 months is that she is recognized everywhere now – in Romania and beyond.
“Everywhere. Also the parking (smiling). Yeah, I was surprised when I wanted to park and I didn’t have space. Someone came and put me in front of the hotel. So you can park here, he told me. Everybody knows me now.”
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