"I thought I will be done with tennis at 30, but now I started something nice and new; Everything is Patrick Mouratoglou now, the team, it's 100% him"- Simona Halep
Simona Halep will start her preparations for the season's final Grand Slam at the 2022 Citi Open, which gets underway with main draw action at Rock Creek Park in Washington DC on Monday.
Speaking at her pre-tournament press conference, the Romanian — who was last seen in action at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships — spoke on a range of topics, including her recent split with long-time coach Daren Cahill and subsequent partnership with Patrick Mouratoglou.
Describing her new coaching situation as "something nice and new," Halep said she has given Mouratoglou complete freedom to set up the support team and other training-related decisions. She added that the partnership had also reignited her love for competition.
"Everything is Mouratoglou now," Halep said. "The team, it's 100% him. Everything that it's going around me, it's about his academy and his-self. I made this change because I really felt to do it."
"I thought I will be done with tennis at 30, she continued. "But now I started something nice and something new. Everything is completely new. So I will enjoy. Actually I'm enjoying already. I will see how good I can be in the future."
The former World No.1 went on to say that she trusted Mouratoglou and his methods from the first second and felt "safe" under his guidance.
"Yeah, I trusted him from first second," the former World No. 1 said. "I didn't know anything about him before, like we didn't meet, we didn't talk before I went to his academy in April. So, yeah, everything is new. But I trusted him. I feel safe. We will see."
"I will not compare because they are super different" - Simona Halep on Daren Cahill and Patrick Mouratoglou
On being asked to compare Mouratoglou with former coach Daren Cahill, Simona Halep said the two are very "different," before adding that the change was the best thing that could happen to her.
"First of all, Darren left me in September last year, so I didn't leave him. Secondly, I will not compare because they are super different, Halep said. "What I can say in this moment it's the best thing that could happen to me, to meet Patrick. He has super energy. He's super kind. So it means a lot for me to work with people like this."
"All his experience and all his advice is amazing, so I'm enjoying a lot this period, she conitnued."He brought me back to love tennis, to love working, which never happened before. Now I'm just giving my best every day. We don't have expectations in order of results. We just have expectations to work hard and to improve."
Simona Halep opens her 2022 Citi Open campaign against Spain's Cristina Bucsa on Monday.