Dubai: Top seed and world number two Simona Halep is not looking too far ahead as she commences the defence of her title at the Dubai Duty Free Women’s Open.
“Every tournament is tough at this level and everyone can win it. I am just happy to be back here. This tournament is special for me because I have won it last year, and I am happy that I came back as I can play and I can practice here, and that is the most important thing me – to be able to play here,” Halep told media at the customary round table meeting of top four players yesterday.
Though going through with a fantastic 2015, Halep has struggled during the first few weeks of the current season. She missed the Brisbane International due to an Achilles injury, but did well to make it to the Sydney Open semi-finals only to go down to veteran Svetlana Kuznetsova. The bigger shock was her first round exit to Shuai Zhang in the Australian Open where she lost in straight sets.
The Romanian later revealed that she had been struggling with a nose issue [nasal septum deviation] and that she would be going in for surgery to rectify the problem. However, Halep changed her mind and represented Romania in their Fed Cup tie that they lost to the Czech Republic last week.
Coming in as defending champion here with very little competitive tennis, Halep admitted that the dynamics are a bit different this season. “Winning here last year gave me a great feeling. I have great memories from last year and that is because I had a great atmosphere, great fans and great matches and everything went the right way. That was the best feeling I had. So it means a lot to be back here. It is going to be tough to defend the title and I am not really thinking about that. I just want to play my best to try to come back as much as I can and to be healthy and to do my best. This is all I want,” she reiterated.
Halep will commence her defence here with a second round fixture either against former world number one Ana Ivanovic or Daria Gavrilova. “I have seen who my second round opponent is going to be. My coach told me that. It is going to be tough, but you know I am here to play my best. I don’t mind if I play against a strong player as I need matches and I need to face strong players. I am ready to go,” she said.
“Health-wise now I am perfect. Everything is okay for now and I am keeping my fingers crossed to stay like this and to be able to play the next tournament,” Halep added.
