French Open: Simona Halep – “I think half of Romania is celebrating now”

With her triumph against Sloane Stephens at the French Open Simona Halep finally proved all doubters wrong. The relief was clearly noticeable to the world’s number one.

When Simona Halep finally held the trophy in her hands, she looked across the Centre Court for the first time that day. All load, all tension, all fears and doubts were gone, the very long and hard march to the first Grand Slam title had found its goal – the French Open 2018, the final against Sloane Stephens, the 3:6, 6:4 and 6:1 victory in a last, nerve-racking exertion.

“Shortly before the match point, I could barely breathe. The excitement was huge,” Halep said afterwards after she had eaten away the first tears of joy, “now it is an incredible relief.

She was the world’s best tennis player in black and white from time to time, in the turbulence at the top of women’s tennis, but now she had just confirmed and underpinned this leading position with her triumph in one of the Grand Slam competitions, which surpassed all expectations.

“Nothing beats this title. This is what I have been waiting for all my life, year after year,” Halep said, “it has not always been easy to keep the belief that one day it will work out.

Before her historic victory, she had lost three major finals, most recently again against Caroline Wozniacki at the Australian Open 2018. Halep’s victory was given a particularly emotional touch by the fact that the woman who won the last title for Romania exactly 40 years ago in Paris is none other than Virginia Ruzici – the long-time manager of Halep. Halep also fell crying around her arms after the success, as did her parents and coach Darren Cahill.

It was a paradoxical cup duel, because it reminded so amazingly of last year’s events – only with reversed roles. Halep was already leading 6-2 and 3-0 against Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko at the French Open Final 2017 before the match turned crazy fast and dramatic for the 19-year-old underdog.

Ostapenko was unstoppable on the way to the Paris tennis throne, Halep was inconsolable afterwards – and there were of course also doubts whether it would ever work out with one of these great titles. But now the feature film of the current final was also a parable for the Romanian woman’s untiring, never-ending fighting spirit, for her willingness to face all kinds of new challenges and adversities – no matter what had happened to her. 3:6 and 1:2 (with a break) she was trailing Stephens, so it was the almost identical deficit that Ostapenko had twelve months ago.

And it was exactly in these tracks that Halep continued to move, in the footsteps of her conqueror last year. Aware that she could no longer lose and risk everything, she suddenly found a new conviction in her game. Stephen’s match after match was more worn down, she took a 4-2 lead in the second set with two breaks, won the round 6-4, and then the resistance of surprise finalist Stephens was broken, who had fascinated for just under an hour with her elegant, smooth, precise play. Halep took a 5-0 lead in the third set, and after two hours and two minutes she reached the goal of all her dreams. “I think half of Romania is celebrating now,” Halep said.