Naomi Osaka just has to relax, says Simona Halep
Simona Halep knows how to deal with pressure, having gone from needing a main draw wild card at the Madrid Open to becoming world no. 1 and a Major winner. Now Naomi Osaka is in a similar situation and Halep, speaking to reporters in Dubai last month, said: "I think it's different to each player. I cannot say what she feels. It's normal. She didn't play since Melbourne. She won that title, very big title. It's normal to have a little bit of letdown maybe. But she will come back stronger. If she lost one match, doesn't mean that she lost everything. She has to relax.
She added, "I didn't have this pressure. Also, I've been there for four years before, so no. 2, no. 3. She's different because she came last year from around (no.) 70 if I remember well. Maybe it's different. I was okay. I didn't have the pressure of being no. 1."
Halep thinks her origins help her being tough mentally: "Nobody has or had what I had in Romania. Trust me that I am strong, that I could resist that thing (smiling). But when I'm going to the tournaments, even if I'm no. 1, no. 5, I treat the same. You can lose any time. You can win any match. I'm going with that mentality. If I lose, let's say, an easy match, even if at this level you don't have easy matches, I don't make a drama. I want to shake it off fast, then start the new day tomorrow."
Asked when she decided to become a professional player, Halep concluded: "It was at 14, when I was 14. I told myself that now the joke is finished, so I have to treat everything serious. I don't know why I felt in that moment. Maybe with the experience from juniors, stuff like this. At that point, I said to be serious that I want to become one of the best players in the world."
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2Fg4MFF
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