Being the best at what you do in profession is a difficult task. Sometimes some would argue the point that it is easier to get into that position than consolidating that position the next season and continuing that consistency in doing so.
Even the greatest tennis players in the world that have won the biggest titles on tour have struggled with backing up a great season. On the men’s side, Andy Murray was making finals and winning titles for large periods of the 2016 season and notched up match-win after match-win, but something went missing in the 2017 season. The spark had gone out. Everything that brought him to the top of the men’s game seemed to have left him.
Murray’s struggles at the top, despite one of Great Britain’s greatest ever sportsmen, shows that no-one is immune to the pressure at the top of the game.
The latest to talk about the World No.1 ranking is Simona Halep, who is ever so close to achieving the next big milestone in her career. The Romanian came one win away from achieving just that at this year’s Roland-Garros final, but came up short. During her pre-tournament press conference at the Aegon International in Eastbourne, Halep discussed whether she really wanted that ranking, having seen the slumps of Murray and Angelique Kerber while holding onto that position in the rankings.
“Yeah, I want. And I want to face that challenge.”, she replied.
One of the journalists present asked whether she was constantly thinking of that World No.1 in recent months and she said: “Well, before the final I was thinking. Was my next goal, let’s say. Yeah, now that I’m so close, it’s like it’s coming more into my mind and into my soul. I really want to get there. But I’m close but still far.”
Halep also said: “So I have just to take match by match and to do everything I can to be No.1. It’s going to be a big thing for me.”
From a psychological standpoint, Halep must be feeling mentally drained following a Roland-Garros final where she had the match in her grasp, leading by a set and 3-0, with points for a double break. Halep talked a bit about how she felt not just physically but mentally after one of her biggest losses. Perhaps a bigger loss than the 2014 Roland Garros final to Maria Sharapova, because of the difference in circumstances and the fact that Halep was heavy favourite going into the latest final.
Halep admitted she was affected by the situation and had regrets over some of her returns in big moments of the match: “Yeah I can say I was affected because I was very, very close this time. Also in the third set. But I think she played really well after that. She didn’t miss it anymore, and she hit it very strong.”
The Romanian No.1 also stated that the overriding thoughts she had over that final was extremely tough thoughts, as you’d suspect.
“The only one, very tough thought, is set 3-0 and I couldn’t take that game. I had so many break points. Now I’m thinking that I should have hit that ball, the return, the second serve and just go for it. But I didn’t. So that one is killing me, actually.”
Halep is her own worst critic and that has been the case for a lot of her career. It will take a lot of time and acceptance to deal with that loss in Paris, but maybe having the World No.1 goal within touching distance will motivate her to keep on going while having the assistance of experienced coach Darren Cahill, who will constantly keep making sure that she keeps up the same level that she produced for much of the clay court season.
Halep’s first Eastbourne appearance is an interesting development. She decided to take a wildcard into the tournament to get the grass court matchplay that she desires. And of course, with both eyes on the World No.1 ranking, she is committed to chasing Kerber down for that coveted prize.
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