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Simona Halep Australian Open 2021
Tennis News, US Open Tennis, WTA Tennis Players

Simona Halep digs deep to win despite feeling ‘sick’ with nerves


Simona Halep battled past Montreal champion Camila Giorgi 6-4, 7-6 in a thrilling opening round encounter at US Open despite feeling the pressure in closing stages.

The Romanian was forced to withdraw from French Open, Wimbledon and Tokyo Olympics after suffering a calf tear which ruled her out for three months.

Halep produced a great return game at 4-4 in set one to break before serving out for 6-4. The second set swung one way, then another, with Giorgi saving two match points to force a tie-break. The 12th seed played a solid few points to close out the match in straight sets.

The two-time Major champion spoke about struggling with nerves when serving out the match in set two.

“At 5-4 I felt the pressure,” Halep said. “Because I don’t have many matches, I felt sick a little bit because I knew actually I have to finish the match because in three sets would be a little bit tougher.”

“I worked a lot in the break when I couldn’t move that much because of the leg. So I did practice a lot of serves,” she added. “But I’m happy to see my serve improving, and I can win some easy points with it. So I have been looking for it for many years, but now finally I can feel it stronger.”

Halep added that her adductor injury is still present, but she has been advised by physios to play with it.

“I practiced once a few days ago without the tape, about 30 minutes, and I felt the pain again,” Halep revealed. “So probably it’s mentally more, but also I have the injury there. So it’s better to have it. I talked to the physios, WTA physios, and they advised me to keep it. So I will play with it.”


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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.