‘Lucky Me’ – Simona Halep Trains at Serena Williams’ Coach’s Academy for the First Time

Simona Halep has had a steady rise to the top. The Romanian won her first and only Grand Slam juniors title when she defeated compatriot Elena Bogdan to win the French Open girl’s singles title in 2008. After a number of attempts, she finally tasted Grand Slam success in women’s singles. It was the same tournament where Halep had won the juniors title, 10 years prior to her maiden Grand Slam victory.

Fast-forward now, the 30-year-old has added another Grand Slam title in the form of Wimbledon and several WTA 1000 titles. She attained the top spot in the WTA rankings in October 2017 after a consistent run in the tournaments.

However, the Romanian is struggling for form currently. She suffered a shock defeat in the fourth round of the Australian Open. Subsequently, she parted ways with Daniel Dobre and Adrian Marcu, who were on her coaching team. Halep has been on the lookout for coaches since. Recently, she trained at Serena Williams’ coach’s academy for the first time.

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Simona Halep trains at Patrick Mouratoglou’s academy

The former World Number 1 is in France where she is training at Mouratoglou Tennis Academy. Expressing her happiness, she said, “This week I stepped into an academy for the first time. Lucky me that I came to the best one. Everyone at the [Mouratoglou Tennis Academy] puts their heart and soul into it every single day! Thanks to everyone for welcoming me in such a warm way. I felt like I had been here forever.”

After the split with her coaching staff post the dismal Australian Open campaign, a French sparring partner from Patrick Mouratoglou’s academy accompanied Halep at the tournaments in Dubai and Qatar. However, it didn’t change her fortunes as she lost in the semifinals against the former French Open champion, Jelena Ostapenko.

Further, in the WTA 1000 Qatar TotalEnergies Open, she lost in the opening round against France’s Caroline Garcia. With the all-important ‘Sunshine Double’ coming up this month, Halep would be eager to find her rhythm back as she aims to break back into the top-10 of the WTA rankings. Can Halep find success in the coming tournaments? Let us know your views in the comments below.

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