Simona Halep: ‘The dream came true’

It has been a tough grind for Simona Halep, but now that she is the No. 1 player in the women’s tennis world, she doesn’t want to ever let go of her perch.?Nothing comes easy for all world-class athletes; they put in years and years of hard work to be able to make it to the highest level, and there they face competitors that want success just as badly.?

Halep broke into the top 50 at the end of 2012, and her consistent rise to the top is well documented.?In last year’s French Open, she was on the verge of winning her first Grand Slam title but fell short in three sets.?Her consistent overall play eventually got her to the top; she became just the seventh player to have reached No. 1 without winning a Grand Slam.??The STAR caught up with Halep at the end of the year in Singapore.???

PHILIPPINE STAR: Congratulations on being No. 1.?

SIMONA HALEP: Well, it’s a great feeling. I’m really excited to be No. 1 in the world. Inside I can say that something is changed. I’m very happy about what I did. But outside is just normal. Nothing changes. It’ s just I have to work harder to keep that (smiling). But I’m here just to enjoy the moment and we’ll see what is going to happen.?

When did it finally sink in, that you were No. 1??

Well, the day that I won the match against Yelena Ostapenko! That was the best day, by far, best feeling. But when I went home, I had all the friends, family close to me, and it was — I had some good dinners with them. We celebrated a little bit. But I haven’t done a big party. So I’m waiting to finish to go to the holidays and then I will have a big party.?

You said that you feel like something’s changed inside. What did you mean??

The dream came true. It’s just the best feeling that I ever had in my tennis career so far.?It’s nice. I cannot describe in words what I feel, but it’s a good feeling. I’m happy when I’m going to the courts now.?

How important is it for you to keep the No. 1 ranking??I think for everyone it’s the most important thing to finish the year No. 1, but it’s not going to be easy. Everyone is going to play the best tennis, and every match is going to be like a final.?So I’m not thinking about that. I play better when I’m not thinking about No. 1, so I have a lot of experience this year. I’m just going to give my best, to try to be focused on what I have to play in each match, and we will see at the end who is going to be No. 1.?

There have been five different No.1s in 2017; do you think this is the most open and competitive that women’s tennis has been??

I said at the beginning of the year when I heard that Serena is pregnant that, now, every tournament is open, and we saw that we had a different Grand Slam champion and many No.1s in the world.?So, yeah, every tournament is open. Everyone can finish No.1 this year. Yeah, no one is going to dominate how Serena did, for sure.??

* * *

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @anthonysuntay, and like my Facebook page: Anthony Suntay.?