Simona Halep’s three-year-long break from grass comes to an end

Halep has recovered since her panic attack at Roland Garros. However, Halep has not been consistent throughout the season and the way she fumbled in the second set is a testament to that. However, Halep's power terrorised Tsurenko and the former scored winners left and right pocketing a very quick 6-1 opening set win. Tsurenko took a 2-0 lead in the second set but lost her serve a few minutes later. She broke Halep once again taking a 3-1 lead but Halep caught on to equalise at a 3-3 score. 

Halep pressed further to take a lead at 5-4 and then finished the set with 6-4 to move on. The Romanian player admitted that she is still adapting to grass after thrashing Lesia Tsurenko in her first match on the surface in three years at the LTA’s Rothesay Classic in Birmingham. She had won the Wimbledon title in 2019, but couldn't defend it the next year when it was cancelled due to Covid-19 and a hamstring tear sabotaged her participation in 2021. She said she was disappointed because of her injury and the only thing she wanted at that moment was to start the tournament on Centre Court. 

Second-seeded Halep is a favourite in the tournament 

She returned to grass after three years and considering the difficulties faced by tennis players on grass, she was pleased with the way she held up. Despite her opponent's good control over the grass, she was focused and happy with the victory. Coupled with that, she only practised for two days so having played better than what she expected, the outcome was positive overall. “Three years is a long time to have a break from a surface. I feel good on the grass, in 2019 I felt the best, I felt like I’m connected to the court and I’m very comfortable on it. I always played good tennis on grass but 2019 was the best, said the 31-year-old. 

Halep, who also clinched the French Open in 2018 is playing in Birmingham for the first time after her quarter-final loss to Kristina Mladenovic in 2015. She is second-seeded in the tournament which makes her one of the favourites for the title but will face Britain’s Harriet Dart in the next round. She defeated Dart 6-2 6-4 in the second round of the Australian Open in 2020 which as admitted by the Romanian, is not a fresh memory anymore. However, she has seen Dart playing and revealed that it will be difficult to beat her.