Simona Halep's candid revelations: “I didn't like being the center of attention, I used to hide from people” + precious advice from Steffi Graf

Former world No. 1 Simona Halep, 34, delved into significant career moments and topics during an extensive discussion with Horia Tecău, where she spoke about her beginnings, her biggest challenges, and how she handled pressure.

Just over a year after her spontaneous retirement announcement in Cluj-Napoca, following her first-round loss at the Transylvania Open, Simona Halep reflects on her career with clarity, emotion, honesty, and considerable objectivity.

She revealed these insights during an almost hour-long conversation with Horia Tecău on the inaugural MindArchitect podcast. Halep calmly and openly discussed the stages, moments, and aspects of her relationship with tennis, which began in childhood and led to a level of achievement and celebrity unique in Romania.

The two-time Grand Slam champion stated that maintaining her composure on court was her biggest struggle. “It was tough for me; I couldn't control my emotions and impulsiveness. But, in a way, working with a psychologist for many years helped me accept myself. It made me understand that this is who I am and that it can actually help me,” she elaborated.

“Even if sometimes it worked against me, often it gave me the fire I needed to win certain matches,” she added, also mentioning that she “talked a lot” to herself on court.

At the same time, those emotional outbursts also had a beneficial role. They freed her and motivated her for the next point, game, or set.

“That helped me a lot because I never gave up. Even if it often seemed from the outside, and I saw a lot of criticism that I didn't care about the match and so on, no, that was just how I expressed myself. I was 100% committed to every point. I wasn't always mentally prepared after a moment where I was talking to myself and getting upset.

All these things negatively affected me for the next point. But I fought and was 100%, how can I say, very physically and mentally prepared, emotionally ready to play the next point,” Simona explained.

When Horia asked if she ever felt she disliked tennis, she responded promptly, without hesitation.

“No, regarding tennis, I never once felt that way, and I never said, until much later, that I wanted to quit tennis, that I couldn't cope anymore. What I didn't like... I didn't like the travel, and that was quite difficult for me because it was the main point. I had to go somewhere new every week, with flights and all sorts of changes.

But tennis itself, no. I loved it. I loved everything about it. Everything related to tennis,” Halep declared.

What price does she feel she paid for her entire sporting experience? “Popularity,” again, an unhesitating answer. “Because I am, I was—now I'm much better—but I was a very introverted person. I didn't like being the center of attention at all, not at all,” Simona assured, then continued with an amusing revelation.

“I remember my dad telling me that when I was seven or eight, going to the National Tennis Center and playing tournaments, you know the back parking lot? I used to go there to warm up so no one would see me. So I was literally hiding from people,” she recounted, laughing now after all this time.

“And it wasn't easy at all in 2013-2014, after my first Grand Slam final, where I felt overwhelmed by all the attention and people's desire to talk to me, take a photo, or get an autograph during that period,” she added.

Addressing the topic of pressure, she firmly stated, “I always liked it.” She then elaborated.

“I often discussed with Darren that I needed to use pressure to my advantage, and I learned that and started to enjoy it. Somehow, I transformed a burden into pleasure. And I told myself, I kept repeating to myself that pressure is good, it keeps you more focused, and you're much more attentive to what you need to do, and somehow I drew it to my advantage,” Simona Halep detailed.

“And it became easier to manage. I talked to many people, I had wonderful people around me, and they helped me with all sorts of advice, but you know how it is. You're not born knowing how to handle such things. Who would have imagined that I, from Constanța, would become perhaps the most famous sports personality in Romania? So it wasn't easy to manage,” she emphasized.

How did she control external pressure, the desires of everyone, of the fans, for her to triumph?

“It didn't add to my tennis game in the sense that my preparation remained the same. I wasn't overwhelmed to the point of not wanting to go to practice or saying it was too hard, I didn't want this anymore. It was emotionally difficult; I had very strong emotions before matches.

Perhaps it was people's expectations, and somehow they transformed into my initial nervousness at the start of matches. I can't precisely define how much external pressure affected me. I believe I had good people, my team was always the right fit, and they helped me somehow to give me confidence that I could do it,” she said.

An interesting episode, however, clarified some of her fears, thanks to advice from a great tennis champion, winner of 22 Grand Slam singles titles.

“I remember a moment at Indian Wells in 2016. In 2015, I won the tournament, and I went to Vegas. Darren called me, and I met Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi,” Simona recounted.

“Darren told them that Simona was very stressed about defending her title. Steffi came to me and said, «You just have to think that you were capable of winning it once, and you will certainly be capable of winning it again. If you don't win it, life still goes on».

Somehow, I felt liberated and told myself that I shouldn't play to defend my points, but rather to play to be very good every week. That's why I always told the press that every tournament, every week, was everything to me. I never prepared two months in advance for a Grand Slam. Meaning, I never went to Rome and Madrid to prepare for Roland Garros. Never. I always approached every tournament with 100% commitment,” she concluded.