CITI OPEN

July 30, 2022

Simona Halep

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Simona, welcome back to the Citi Open.

SIMONA HALEP: Thank you.

THE MODERATOR: How does it feel to be playing here for the first time since 2017?

SIMONA HALEP: In 2017 I played here, yeah, many years ago.

It's really nice to be back. I love this tournament. All the people are welcoming me. Super nice. So, yeah, I'm happy to be here.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Simona, can you share some thoughts about the challenge of leaving Darren Cahill and taking on Patrick Mouratoglou as your coach. Is that something you could have foreseen happening? How has the transition been?

SIMONA HALEP: First of all, Darren left me in September last year, so I didn't leave him. Secondly, I will not compare because they are super different.

What I can say in this moment it's the best thing that could happen to me, to meet Patrick. He has super energy. He's super kind. So it means a lot for me to work with people like this.

All his experience and all his advice is amazing, so I'm enjoying a lot this period. He brought me back to love tennis, to love working, which never happened before. Now I'm just giving my best every day. We don't have expectations in order of results. We just have expectations to work hard and to improve.

We will see what we can do together.

Q. I didn't see Patrick out there today.

SIMONA HALEP: He's not here.

Q. Is he coming at all?

SIMONA HALEP: No, not the next two weeks.

Q. Not Toronto or Cincinnati?

SIMONA HALEP: In Cincinnati, yeah, he's coming.

Q. He'll be here halfway through the trip?

SIMONA HALEP: Yes, kind of. He has kids, so he has to stay home, too.

Q. It seems he has gotten involved in many other aspects of your professional life beyond tennis, the PR side. It seems as though you are fully Team Mouratoglou. Is that a fair thing to say?

SIMONA HALEP: Everything is Mouratoglou now. The team, it's 100% him. Everything that it's going around me, it's about his academy and his-self. I made this change because I really felt to do it.

I thought I will be done with tennis at 30, but now I started something nice and something new. Everything is completely new. So I will enjoy. Actually I'm enjoying already. I will see how good I can be in the future.

Q. A brave thing to put so much trust in one person, not someone you necessarily knew so well before. A big leap of faith.

SIMONA HALEP: Yeah, I trusted him from first second. I didn't know anything about him before, like we didn't meet, we didn't talk before I went to his academy in April.

So, yeah, everything is new. But I trusted him. I feel safe. We will see.

Q. How would you compare this event to other places that you've been? What do you like about what they're doing here?

SIMONA HALEP: I love people here. They are super friendly, they are super nice. All the kids are asking for pictures. You can feel the vibe.

I like the conditions. Not the weather because it's too hot, but the conditions. Everything around this tournament is beautiful.

It's a great tournament. I'm happy it's back for WTA.