PARIS—Simona Halep remains coached by Victor Ionita, but has been working more frequently with Darren Cahill and says the Australian has helped her confidence.
Cahill worked with the world No. 3 Indian Wells and Miami, as well as at clay-court events in Madrid and Rome. The two also trained together in Halep's home country of Romania. However, the Australian coach has told TENNIS.com that he is commentating full-time during the French Open and would not be coaching Halep or anyone else during the tournament. The ESPN broadcaster has previously coached Lleyton Hewitt and Andre Agassi, and has worked part-time with a number of other top players, including Ana Ivanovic and Sorana Cirstea, as a consultant for adidas.
“He’s a kind person and he's very positive. I like this,” Halep said about Cahill. “He’s a good coach, one of the best. He has experiences, and, you know, he’s telling me what I have to play like tactic and also technique sometimes.
“I have a good team, and I'm really happy that I have him close to my team and close to me. He give me confidence and give me more positive things, because I need when I play to think positive. I think this is my key during the matches.”
Halep has won three tournaments this year on hard courts but lacks a title on clay, losing to Caroline Wozniacki in Stuttgart, to Alize Cornet in Madrid, and to Carla Suarez Navarro in Rome. She reached the final of last year’s French Open.
“I have many things to improve,” Halep said. “My expectation for this tournament is just to try to play at my highest level, and to win matches. But I'm sure that it will be very tough. Everyone is playing good, so everyone wants to play good at Grand Slam. We have only four per year. So I feel ready. I feel confident. I feel that I can take my chances here.”
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