TORONTO—Simona Halep says she wants to "win" her way to No. 1, with the Romanian still within striking distance of the top spot as the hard-court season begins.

Halep has twice this season been within a match of reaching No. 1, first in the final of the French Open and then in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, falling both times in memorable three-setters.

"I was almost there two times, but now I'm not thinking any more about that," Halep told TENNIS.com in Toronto. "Of course, it is a big goal in my career. But now it's done. I just want to take it match by match, tournament by tournament, and if it's going to happen, I'll be really happy, for sure."

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The 25-year-old is less than 1,000 points behind new No. 1 Karolina Pliskova, with 900 points to the winner of this week's event in Toronto, and also to next week's tournament in Cincinnati.

But despite taking a wild card into Washington the week before Toronto, Halep says she's not adding events to try to improve her ranking.

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"No, I haven't done any adjustments to get there," she said, adding she's "never going to chase points," but will rather "[go] to the big tournaments to give my best to get to win the No. 1, not just to get it."

Though Halep retired in Washington with heat illness, she described herself as fit to play this week.

Halep's biggest goal is still to win a major, having been just a few games away at the French Open before admittedly getting nervous. But the top spot would also be a big achievement.

"I prefer the Grand Slam than the No. 1,” she said, “but still, to get No. 1, not many players did that, so it's going to be very important for me. But still, like I said, I want to win it, so for that I have to win big tournaments."

Even with those stinging defeats, Halep's recent performances have still been a marked improvement over the start of her season. She did not get further than the quarterfinals of a tournament until Stuttgart, but has won a title (Madrid), reached two finals and reached at least the quarterfinals of each event she’s played since.

She has attributed the turnaround to a temporary split with coach Darren Cahill that forced her to re-examine her attitude.

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"I think also, before I realized I am not very good on court, I am more negative, but I didn't feel it very deep," she said. "In that moment I say, 'Oh yeah, I really have a problem.' I have to change this to be able to get to the big matches, the finals and stuff like that.

"It was very tough, maybe the toughest moment, but I was happy I could do it."

It has allowed her to concentrate just on her game, which is built on movement and creative baseline play.

"I don't feel pressure anymore in the negative way," she said. "I take every day like a big challenge. I work hard, actually harder than before. I set some goals, little goals first and then the big ones. I stopped thinking about big achievements. I take tournament by tournament and be confident that I'm able to be there."

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Simona Halep, undeterred by painful defeats, hungry to be No. 1

Simona Halep, undeterred by painful defeats, hungry to be No. 1

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