Simona Halep vs Caroline Wozniacki: Tennis' best relaxed but ready to fight for Australian Open title
Both have never won a Grand Slam with Halep, like Wozniacki, having played in two finals only to have lost them both
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Your support makes all the difference.How fitting it would be for Simona Halep to win her first Grand Slam title here at the Australian Open. The 26-year-old Romanian, who faces Caroline Wozniacki in the final on Saturday with the world No 1 ranking at stake, likes the way Australians take a more relaxed approach to life and believes the influence of her Aussie coach, Darren Cahill, has helped her to become less tense on court.
“It’s helping me a lot to think this way on the court because I was a little bit too negative before,” Halep said. “I’m trying to change that. I’ve changed already, but I need to work on it more.”
Like Wozniacki, Halep has played in two Grand Slam finals already and lost them both. Wozniacki’s two defeats were at the US Open, to Kim Clijsters in 2009 and to Serena Williams in 2014, while Halep’s were both at Roland Garros, to Maria Sharapova in 2014 and to Jelena Ostapenko last year.
The defeat to Ostapenko was a particularly painful loss. Halep would have gone to the top of the world rankings if she had won – she eventually did so four months later – but from a set and 3-0 up she became too cautious, while her young opponent went for her shots.
Halep does not expect the world rankings to have any influence on her thinking going into this weekend’s final, even though defeat would see her lose her position at the top to Wozniacki, the current No 2.
“It's just another match, a tough one, for sure,” Halep said. “I was in this position at the French Open, so maybe I can play a better match this time, be more relaxed, and play it like a normal match. I don't want to think about the result.
“At this tournament it has been a great feeling going on court just to fight for the balls, for the games, and not for the match. Just step by step.”
There was a good indication of Halep’s more relaxed approach in her semi-final victory over Angelique Kerber when she looked up at Cahill and smiled before her second match point. “In my mind I was thinking: ‘Maybe I can do it again.’ I think it helped me to relax a little bit. I didn't put pressure on myself and I think it was a good timing.”
Halep admitted that winning a Grand Slam title would mean more to her than being world No 1. “It’s my dream, to win a Grand Slam title,” she said. “It’s always tough when you are close. I had this opportunity two times already. The last one was very close.
“Maybe this time I will be better. You never know. If it's not going to happen this time, I will stay strong and I will keep thinking and dreaming [about other opportunities].”
Asked to assess how different a person she was now compared with how she was at Roland Garros last summer, Halep said: “I feel more experienced and stronger mentally. And the way I play, it's different. I feel I’m more aggressive.”
Halep, who cracked 50 winners and eight aces against Kerber, is determined to approach the final as if it were any other match. “I don’t want to change anything,” she said. “I’ve played many times against her. I have to work. I’m ready for it. For sure it’s a big challenge, maybe the biggest one.”
Although Halep won two of her first three matches against Wozniacki, she has lost the last three. Their most recent meeting was at the end-of-season WTA Finals in Singapore in October, when Halep took only two games off the Dane, who went on to win the title.
“The way she’s playing, she’s not missing,” Halep said. “She’s running very well. She’s a strong opponent. I’ve played her many times. This is going to be a different match, a new match, a tough one. Emotions are there. Pressures are there for both of us.”
Wozniacki, who last topped the world rankings in 2012 and dropped outside the top 70 in the summer of 2016, was asked if she felt everything was falling into place at the right time for her to win her first Grand Slam title.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I still have one match to go. I think it’s been a great two weeks so far. I’m really happy and proud of how I’ve managed to turn things around when things weren’t going my way and keep it up whenever it was going my way.
“I’m just excited. It’s another final. It’s another great two weeks. Regardless of what happens now, I’ve done my best. When you go out there on Saturday, you have everything to win.”
The 27-year-old Dane, who will return to the top of the world rankings for the first time for six years if she wins tomorrow, said that even as she fell down the world rankings two summers ago she always believed that she could return to the top.
“I was just giving myself time,” she said. “I think if you don’t feel like you can go all the way in tournaments, then to me there’s no sense in playing. I always want to be competitive. I want to be the best. That’s why I'm still playing.”
She added: “I think once you get older, you get more experienced, you learn, you maybe read the game better. I think you learn all the time. I think you definitely have to get better.
“You have to improve to keep being on top of this game because everyone behind you is trying to find a way to beat you. You need to be a step ahead. I think I’ve added a few things to my game. I think at the same time I’ve kept the base of my game that I’ve been so successful with."
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