After experiencing some discomfort during her first-round loss in Madrid to Alize Cornet, Simona Halep says she's now feeling much better. She advanced to the quarterfinals of Rome by defeating Venus Williams, 6-2, 6-1.
"I feel good, I feel I have no pain anymore, I have just a little bit of contraction in the muscle, but I think it's good now," Halep said. "I can run, I can play, I can do everything. I will have the chance to win a Grand Slam, but it's still very far so I want to try to take match by match and see if that is going to happen."
The world No. 2 added that it's no surprise Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova have more fans and attention than she does. Williams has 19 Grand Slam singles titles, while Sharapova has five.
"It's normal to speak about Serena and Sharapova because they're great champions, they won a lot of titles at Grand Slams," said Halep, who reached the final of Roland Garros last year but fell to Sharapova. "I have to only think about what happens on court and nothing else."