Simona Halep wasn't impressed at all with a Romanian publication brutally calling her out and ripping her Hong Kong Open performance as "embarrassing."
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After returning to tennis in March and picking up an early knee injury, it was announced a month ago that the former world No. 1 was granted wildcards into the Challenger and WTA 250 tournaments in Hong Kong.
Following a round-of-16 outing at the tournament's Challenger edition in early October - in what was Halep's first event in five months - the 32-year-old competed in Hong Kong again this week, but this time in their WTA 250 tournament. Unfortunately for the two-time Grand Slam champion, her campaign finished on Monday after No. 6 seed Yuan Yue saw her off 6-3 6-3 in the first round.
Halep gets slammed & defended & then responds
"How much money did Simona Halep take for her embarrassing performance in the first round of the WTA Hong Kong," one of the headlines that appeared in Romanian media read.
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A fan account about Romanian tennis posted a screenshot of the headline and defended the former world No. 1. Whoever was behind the message, instantly highlighted that it made no sense to label her performance that way because she was out for a year and a half before just returning and sustaining an injury that prevented her from playing for additional five months. Also, it was underlined that Halep played against a top-50 player.
"The Romanian press needs to calm down! There was nothing "embarrassing" about how Simona played! This was just her 4th match after almost 2 years away. She isn't going to be winning titles or slams anytime soon to start off. Give her time to get rhythm and stamina! Were they even watching the match? Did they not see how after losing the 1st set, she was able to fight back and start the 2nd set winning 3 games in a row?? Overall she was outplayed. A top 50 player defeated a top 900 player, any other time no one would bat an eye. Given all her circumstances, and lack of match time, I think Simona is playing exceptionally well," the post defending the former world No. 1 read.
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That post caught the eye of Halep, who appreciated it very much. In her message, the 32-year-old noted that just being allowed to compete is a victory considering what she had gone through in the last two years.
Thank you for your support. I don't normally do this but I liked how you reacted and I really appreciate it. Listen, doesn't matter what people say, for me it is a victory to be back on the court. And i m very proud of it!!! Everything is too beautiful to let these little things touching us. Enjoy tennis, enjoy watching who you like and just ignore the rest and?! Keep smiling," the two-time Grand Slam champion said.
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What Halep said about her performance to the media?
At the start of the match, the Romanian saved two break points in the second game but also didn't realize her first break point in the third game. After a couple of missed break points on both sides, Yue earned the first break of the match in the fourth game to go 3-1 up. Then, the Chinese routinely held on to her serve for the rest of the first set to seal the opener.
After losing the first set, Halep bounced back at the start of the next set and claimed her first break to open a 3-0 lead. But just when it started to seem that the former world No. 1 found her rhythm and that she would force a decider, her level dropped and she lost the next six games and the match in two sets.
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However, she still felt that it was solid performance from her side but that Yuan was simply too good.
"My level was not bad at all but the opponent played really well and had confidence. I'm not happy with the way I played but it was much better than the previous match," the 2019 Wimbledon champion said.
Since the Romanian is currently ranked at No. 883 in the world, she acknowledged that she can't form a clear schedule since she still needs wildcards.
"It depends on the wildcards, but I just want to work harder because I need a stronger body to perform at this level. I will take it slow. I have to give myself patience and try to get better day by day," Halep said when asked about her plans for the upcoming period.
