Simona Halep once again overcomes her toughest opponent—herself

INDIAN WELLS, Calif.—In a situation where she’d had her share of meltdowns, world No. 1 Simona Halep gazed at the abyss and came home safely on Wednesday afternoon.

Up a set and in a second-set tiebreak versus Petra Martic in a BNP Paribas Open quarterfinal, Halep had been unable to close it out in straight sets. Most players usually face one opponent. Halep on this day had three—Martic, a swirling wind and, as we’ve seen often, the one she looks at in the mirror every morning. With the match even, Halep summoned her coach and ad hoc psychologist, Darren Cahill.

Said Halep, “I just wanted to call him to calm me down.”

Cahill’s visit proved akin to one of those pills that take a while to kick into the blood stream. Despite holding break points in each of Martic’s opening service games, Halep went down 3-1.

Said Halep, “It was tough to play, because the ball was really moving, and we didn't really know what's going on on court.”

Match point, Halep vs. Martic:

One day—and this day may never come—Halep will hold a precious Grand Slam singles trophy. That moment will mark the purging of anguish and a chance to overtly recognize Halep’s acumen and devotion; fitness, dedication and laser-sharp groundstrokes have taken Halep to incredible heights.

As she fought back versus Martic in toothpick-by-toothpick-like fashion, Halep was tenacious and focused, her dazzling mobility and snappy, efficient stroke production eventually smothering Martic into repeated errors and sloppy decision-making. With Martic serving at 3-4, Halep broke through and, quite impressively, commenced the 5-3 game with a pair of crackling winners—a crosscourt forehand and a laser-like down-the-line backhand. At 40-15, it was adios to Martic with a crosscourt backhand just inside the line; Halep the winner, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3. It was vintage Halep, the Romanian advancing her 2018 record to a sparkling 18-1.

Halep’s one loss was a stinging defeat in the final of the Australian Open to Caroline Wozniacki—the third time in three Grand Slam finals that Halep has been beaten in a three-setter. Such a resume makes her dark moments that much more painful to witness, a sporting form of compound interest.

“Well, the confidence is there just for the game,” said Halep. “For myself and my attitude, I have every day to work on it. Doesn't matter that much the confidence in that direction, but I have confidence that I'm able to do it. So I believe that I am able to do it every time, so I have just to try it and to take it, like, to do it.”

Caroline Wozniacki wins the Australian Open over Simona Halep:

The Sisyphus-like qualities that often flavor Halep’s matches are yet another manifestation of the ups and downs that define contemporary existence among the WTA elite. When Serena Williams is in the mix, it’s largely been a race for second. With Serena away, there have been intermittent success stories—Angelique Kerber’s two major titles in 2016 the highlight—but scarcely sustainable excellence. Kerber, for example, dropped out of the Top 20 the vert next season.

Consider the desultory way Wimbledon winner Garbine Muguruza lost in her first match here at Indian Wells to a player with a triple-digit ranking. US Open champion Sloane Stephens has struggled to win matches. Ditto for Roland Garros holder Jelena Ostapenko. Multi-Slam winners Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova remain sluggish. A Venus Williams major victory would now be more of a pleasant surprise than a strident expectation. Karolina Pliskova and Johanna Konta have cumulatively reached one major final. And you’d have to be an exceptional optimist to think that Wozniacki’s run Down Under will break her out from the pack and make her anything other than just another contender at future majors.

And then, offering her own brand of persistence, there is Halep, technically atop the rankings, but presiding more like a foot soldier than a queen. Fiery, demanding, wounded, ready to broadly smile in relief following a hard-fought victory. Difficult as each of those Slam defeats has been, immediately after them, no doubt likely after an upsetting post-handshake moment, Halep has conducted herself with class and, soon enough, picked herself off the mat to fight yet again.

“I have to work on myself,” said Halep. “Things are not coming and going like that…I have just to put the thoughts, like, in the right place.”

Surely, hard work should be rewarded. Just what have the tennis gods planned for Halep?

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