"I wasn't suffering with her" - Darren Cahill on mixed emotions with Simona Halep after her devastating loss at 2017 French Open final
WTA
Australian tennis coach Darren Cahill worked with tennis star Simona Halep from 2016 till 2019, guiding the Romanian tennis star to her first Grand Slam title in 2018. However, their working relationship had several ups and downs.
Halep recently announced her retirement following a lengthy hiatus after serving a doping suspension. The former World No.1 returned to the WTA tour but was a shell of her former self, and made her surprise retirement announcement following her first round loss at the 2025 Winners Open in front of her home crowd.
Staying positive after a loss almost backfired on him, recalls Cahill
During Cahill's tenure with Halep, the Romanian made her first Grand Slam final at the 2017 French Open. She would face Latvian Jelena Ostapenko for the title, and despite being up a set and a break, Halep would let the lead slip away as Ostapenko rallied back to score a 4-6 6-4 6-3 victory.
In an interview with The Tennis Insider Club podcast, Cahill spoke about how much pressure Halep was facing to become the first Romanian woman tennis player to win a Grand Slam singles title. Following her loss, the Australian coach attempted to remain positive and upbeat over the next few weeks, which did not sit well with a devastated Halep.
"I was showing no empathy," recalled Cahill. "I wasn't suffering with her. I was suffering, but I wasn't showing it. I was positive. And she wanted me to be miserable like she was. But it is true because misery loves misery in the tough moments. And all she wanted to see from me was that I was feeling as bad as she was.
"I walked over to her the next day, I said it’s all on me, the last eight weeks is on me. I made some mistakes - tried to be positive and whatnot but I know you’re suffering. And I started having tears, she was crying, I hugged her and she goes 'I’ve been waiting for this hug for three months!'"
"I walked over to her the next day, I said it’s all on me, the last eight weeks is on me. I made some mistakes - tried to be positive and whatnot but I know you’re suffering. And I started having tears, she was crying, I hugged her and she goes 'I’ve been waiting for this hug for three months!'"
Halep would right the ship not long after, winning her first Grand Slam title at the 2018 French Open.
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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