World No.2 Simona Halep won the second WTA title since the Tour's resumption following the pandemic-induced suspension, as she triumphed at the Prague Open.

The Romanian defeated Belgian Elise Mertens in an entertaining final, but soon announced that she would be skipping this year's US Open. In an interview with WTA Insider, Halep spoke on the challenges she faced following the forced six month hiatus.

On returning to competition under the new circumstances and health restrictions

"Well, definitely, it means something big because after such a long break, a break that I never had, I didn't know what to expect and I didn't know how my level would be," said Halep. "But I'm really happy about how I played, how I've been mentally the whole week.

We don't have easy restrictions, even easy conditions, but we felt safe. Probably that's why I was able to compete at my highest desire and level of winning. So it was a great week and I'm happy to be back on court. I'm happy that tennis is back, and the course, many thanks to all the people who took care of us because it was not an easy week, but it was beautiful because I finished it with the title."

On her struggles in the early rounds of the tournament

"Yeah, definitely it was a little bit of insecurity because not being able to play matches for such a long time, you kind of lose the confidence. You lose the feeling of an official match. I didn't have real easy matches at the beginning. They are very tough opponents and I expected very tough matches.

I was really happy I could go through those matches and to improve day-by-day because I did that and I felt safer and I felt more secure day-by-day. So today in the final I was happy that I had no injury, I was happy that I was healthy a hundred percent. And even if I got tired in the second set, I was stronger mentally again today and I was able to win the title.

It is never easy to win a final. So even if it's a smaller tournament, it means a lot. I had a great week here in Prague."

On her confidence prior to playing and following her victory in Prague

"Yeah, I told you, I'm not frustrated about that. I showed that I was not frustrated. I was just accepting the situation and I just took care of myself to be ready to start again when the time is right. So that's why I decided to come to Prague for the first time, because I felt ready completely to start again to compete. The fact that it's a smaller tournament, maybe it's not the same as the Australian Open or Dubai, but still, I had very tough opponents. Mertens is a great player.

So it gives me confidence and gives me the thumbs up because I worked hard in the break. The fact that I'm still motivated to win matches and tournaments gives me a boost to go ahead."

On her mental state while playing under the new restrictions and health protocols

"Yeah, definitely it's not easy to spend your time only in the room. And for the moment I don't want to imagine how it's going to be for three weeks in the room. Ten days was enough, so I can't wait to get home tomorrow (laughs).

But, yeah, it was a little bit stressful and exhausting because you could not see other people. You could not go into the city and take some fresh air. Thank God I had the balcony. So every morning I was staying there for a while. It's good that we had these restrictions because it's keeping us very safe. So I didn't complain much. But now I can complain. It was tough (laughs). I don't want that anymore (laughs)."

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