"Now I have the confirmation that he's great" - Halep after opening account under Mouratoglou at Madrid Open

Simona Halep returned to the place where she triumphed twice and scored her first win under Patrick Mouratoglou.

Halep has reached the Mutua Madrid Open final a tournament-record four times, winning the title in 2016 and 2017 and finishing as runner-up in 2014 and 2019. Newly under the tutelage of Patrick Mouratoglou, Halep was precise against Zhang on Thursday. She said:

"I'm really happy that I could win this match. It means a lot. Being in Madrid, I have great memories. So everything went together today and I played a good match."

On working with Mouratoglou she added:

"Every time when you start with someone, it's tough because you are nervous, you don't know how it's going to be. But I was pretty confident that everything will be okay because I have a great relation with him. I'm honored, because I always thought that he's great. Now I have the confirmation that he's great, and he's helping me a lot with all the things that I have to improve and I have to do on court."