Simona Halep is the top seed at the Dubai Tennis Championships because of Serena Williams’ withdrawal, a position she admits that she is not quite used to yet.
“I feel a little bit of pressure,” the world No. 3 said at a pre-tournament press conference. “But I don’t want to think about, it’s about how you play every day and how far you can go in every tournament, it doesn’t matter what seed you are.”
The 24-year-old Romanian has risen up the ranks over the past two years and is aware that she’s become a target because of her position near the top. “I think everyone is trying to beat me now because I’m in the Top 10,” said Halep. “It was the same before when I was in the Top 50 and I was trying to play better tennis than normal against those above me.”
Halep believes her experience and greater familiarity in big matches, including last year’s French Open final, will help her. "I got a lot more confidence in myself and now believe that I can be amongst the top players,” she said. “I changed many things in my game but the most important thing was in my mind, because I believed that I could play at the highest level.”
Petra Kvitova is No. 2 seed at the Dubai tournament.