MUTUA MADRID OPEN

April 30, 2022

Simona Halep

Press Conference

S. HALEP/P. Badosa

6-3, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Can you just talk through the match and evaluate how you played?

SIMONA HALEP: Well, it's been a great match, in my opinion. I think I played well. Yeah, it's been tough to play against her. It's first time, so I didn't really know what to expect, but I knew that it's going to be a tough one because she's playing great.

She has confidence. She's No. 2 in the world. I knew that I have to be for every point focused and to give everything I have, to give my best, and I think I did it great today. I'm really pleased with the way I played. It's exactly what we talked before the match, so that makes me super happy.

Q. We don't know who you will play yet, so if you can first talk a little bit about Coco, if it is her, and what do you make of her progress so far? She broke through when she was 15. Now she's 18. Have you watched her much? What do you make of her progress?

SIMONA HALEP: Well, I played against her in Indian Wells, I think, so not a long time ago. She's always dangerous, tough player. I think she's super young, and she's playing great tennis, so credit to her.

You know, it's great to see that in tennis. I'm just focusing, sounds like a cliché from me, but I'm really focusing on myself, and I just want to give everything I have every match and to follow what I need to follow.

Q. Do you remember what you were like when you were 18?

SIMONA HALEP: Too many years ago (laughter). Don't mention it. I feel old now (smiling).

Q. I didn't say it was a long time ago. I just said, Do you remember? What was 18-year-old Simona like?

SIMONA HALEP: Honestly, I don't remember. What year was that?

Q. 12 years ago, 2010.

SIMONA HALEP: 2010. Oh, I was just starting to play in professional tennis, so different stories. We cannot compare.

Yeah, I did the surgery in 2009, so it was just at the beginning. I cannot talk about it. It was just something else. She's great at her age.

Q. Some people are describing your performance today as vintage Simona Halep. Did it feel like vintage Simona or was this Simona 2.0?

SIMONA HALEP: New Simona, I would say (smiling).

No, I felt great on court. I'm happy to be on court, and this is the most important thing at this age. I think I improved a lot in these four weeks, and I'm still looking to improve more. I will take this match as, you know, a boost and confidence, because I played with one of the best players in the world.

I played a great match without actually many matches before this tournament, so it gives me a good boost. We will see for the next one.

Q. Winning that kind of match against the No. 2 player in the world is going to make a lot of people say, Damn, Simona Halep is playing really well. Do you walk off the court thinking, Damn, Simona Halep is playing really well?

SIMONA HALEP: Not really (smiling). Not really, but I'm confident. I like how I played.

I know is the way I want to play, we want to play. We talked about it, and I trust 100% what Patrick tells me about the game. So I'm really happy and pleased that actually I can do it on court, because it's different when you practice with the official match.

So the fact I could do it in the official match with one of the best players in the world gives me confidence.

Q. How did you feel to play in the center court of Madrid with the crowd supporting more the opponent than you? Didn't happen very often.

SIMONA HALEP: I didn't notice that. I had my supporters, and I really got the energy. They were nice, they were fair, and it's normal to be with the player from this country.

But I loved it. I always love to play on center court. I took the energy for me, for sure.

Q. Paula was in here just now. She was very emotional about not being able to play her best in front of her home crowd. You don't have a tournament in Romania of this size, but can you imagine what it's like, I guess, to go through something like that, not being able to give your best?

SIMONA HALEP: I always played well home, even if it was a small tournament. I played two times and I won it. I feel great when I play home.

I'm sad that we don't have a big tournament back home, but it's always a pleasure for me to play home, but I know that it can be heavy. So depends on the player.

Q. You spent the four weeks obviously at the academy. What kind of player of your caliber at this stage in your career, what can you improve in four weeks, like how different was it going in versus coming out?

SIMONA HALEP: Confidence, big time. I was in doubts when I arrived there. I didn't know how much I can play and how good I can play still.

But now I'm a different person. I feel more confident. I feel that the pleasure helps me to work harder, to work more. I spend more time on the court.

I think it's everything coming from inside, and at this point I feel happy with myself. I feel that I have the chance to play good tennis again.

Actually, it's my No. 1 priority in this moment, and I feel again that fire. I think it helps me to wake up in the morning and to go to give everything I have.

Q. In terms of this new strategy you have gotten from Patrick, how much do you think that was something that he maybe always thought -- it's a question for him but maybe he's told you -- the way he always thought you could play throughout your whole career, because he obviously watched a lot of you in the years you played against Serena, or how much is it sort of a new idea for him for Simona in 2022?

SIMONA HALEP: Well, we didn't talk about the past. We started collaboration with the present, and we build something on this. So I don't want to talk about the past.

I just want to take everything I have now, and his ideas and the way he sees my game, I like it, and I started to believe more and more that I'm able to do it.

So I will give my best. I trust him 100%. So we will see how good I can do, how good I can do these things that he's tell me.