“Last year’s injury made me feel that with a four-month hiatus, I can’t get the rhythm back,” he said. Halep She said. “I am in my 30s so I always thought it would be difficult at 30. That was on my mind, I don’t know why. Losing a few matches, getting injured again wasn’t easy. Also in Australia, also in Indian wells.

A calf injury forced Halep to withdraw from the French Open, Wimbledon and Africa Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Unable to accumulate ranking points, she fell from third place globally to 13th – her first foray outside the top ten since January 2014.

This year, Halep is starting to recover, and Patrick Muratoglu announced her full-time coach earlier this month. Mouratoglou is one of the best tennis coaches known for his partnership with Serena Williams.

“I feel like I can relate to him, he has the strength to lead me and I need someone who can lead me,” Halep told the WTA.

“No one can compare to Serena, so I’m not going to do that now. He knows I’m a different person, I have a different playing style, a different person structure. And we don’t really talk about it. We just focus on ourselves, how we have it, with what we have to do.” With it, let’s become the best version of myself.”

With Mouratoglou, Halep is developing a more offensive strategy as she prepares for the upcoming French Open.

“I kind of learned before that I have to be a little bit more aggressive because tennis is changing, in my opinion, and it’s such a big strength,” Halep said. “So I can say that some players can beat me if I, for example, are 100 meters from the field.

“I didn’t have enough strength or enough things to do to exaggerate it a bit. So strength was pulling me in. Now, being more aggressive, I think I have a better chance.”

Halep is currently working in the Mutua Madrid Open where she defeated Zhang Shuai 6-2 6-3 in the first round on Thursday. She will face world number two Paula Padusa in the second round.