‘It’s a High Level There’: Simona Halep to Train at Serena Williams’ Coach’s Academy in France

Simona Halep has had a mixed start to the 2022 season. The former World No. 1 began her season at the Melbourne Summer Set 1 tournament, which is considered a warm-up event for the Australian Open. She won the title there, defeating Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova in the summit clash.

However, she could not continue her good form into the Australian Open. The Romanian was shocked by the unseeded Alize Cornet of France in the 4th round. Moreover, she lost a golden opportunity to improve her WTA ranking, which has taken a serious beating.

She has dropped out of the top-20 and is ranked 22nd in the world. Following her inconsistent start to this season, the 2-time Grand Slam champion has made some changes to her coaching team.

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Simona Halep to train with a sparring partner from Patrick Mouratoglou’s academy

After the Australian Open disappointment, Halep has parted ways with Daniel Dobre and Adrian Marcu. The two joined her team after Halep and Darren Cahill ended their successful six-year coaching partnership in September last year. The 30-year-old, who is preparing for the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and Qatar TotalEnergies Open, will be accompanied by a French sparring partner from Patrick Mouratoglou’s academy.

Patrick is currently coaching the 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Coco Gauff.

Speaking on this, she said, “He will be with me at the two tournaments to meet us, but I think he will be there for a longer period. I will go to Mouratoglou to train again. I really want to go, because I have never been to an academy; even when I was little, I wasn’t very fond of the academy. But now I really want to try something else, because I know it’s a high level there, with a lot of top players.”

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Simona Halep admitted that it is difficult to find a coach because, for each player, an ideal coach is different. She felt that a coach and a player need to strike the right balance, which makes the situation complicated.

Halep will look to come back stronger in the upcoming tournaments after the Australian Open disappointment. Can she re-enter the top-10 rankings this year? Let us know your views in the comments below.