Serena Williams and Simona Halep’s’ rivalry goes long back. It was because of Simona Halep that Serena Williams was not able to win her 8 Wimbledon title as Halep defeated her. Even then Williams raised the concern around drug testing being focused only on her and not Halep. And recently when Halep was convicted for using a banned substance and asked to stay out of the sport, Williams made sure to have her moment of sweet revenge.
However, Simona Halep tried her best not to acknowledge it or even mention or react to it. In fact, in a recent interview, she was asked about any negative message she has received from others, especially Serena Williams.
Simona Halep has been out of the game for more than a year now due to doping allegations on her. Despite constantly explaining herself, the allegation continues to exist and she has not been allowed back in the sport. Since Halep was the reason Serena Williams could not win her 8 Wimbledon title, she added a comment after the 4-year ban on Halep was announced. It said, “8 is a better number”.
After this, Halep was asked about the negativity she had received from anyone during this time. In her answer, she refused to acknowledge what Williams had posted for her. Instead, she only focused on the positive aspects. She said, “I never faced a person who told me something negative. So, all of them were positive and this gave me the strength to keep fighting every day, to clear my name, and to show that I didn’t do anything wrong. The players who are opponents also showed their support and I appreciate it because it means a lot.
She went on saying: “We are fighting in court, and when you are in the worst situation, they are there to support you. Also, the legends, I had a big support from legends in tennis and they were also publicly speaking about me.”
However, before this recent interview, before as well Halep was asked directly if she had seen Serena Williams’ post on her. And once again in her answer, she denied coming across it at all.
In September, Simona Halep was in an interview where she was directly asked about the comment Serena Williams made about her after the ban was announced. She answered that she had not come across this particular tweet and she did not know anything about it. After that, she also said that even if Williams said something like that, she understood why she said it.
Halep mentioned that the reaction is because of the decision around the sport referring to the match between them and also her being banned due to doping. So, she was not too worried or affected by it as she shared in the interview.
She further mentioned, “I need to stay healthy. It’s emotional [being on the tennis court]. When you are drained emotionally, you can get hurt physically.”
It’s really commendable how Halep has composed herself in spite of all the ongoing tugging and pulling around her. As we can see, no matter what her focus is Tennis which is pretty tough given the situation she is in. But, she has done it!
