"Patrick told me that I need to practice a little bit more" - Halep on Toronto run

Simona Halep will have a chance to play in the Toronto final but she needs to keep playing well and beat Jessica Pegula.

Halep has been having a very good 2022 years and it comes after she hired Patrick Mouratoglou as her new coach. She was very honest in admitting that he was the key for her in terms of getting excited and motivated about tennis again:

“Before I met him I was super down with my motivation. And like I couldn’t really work, keep working. And I was almost done with tennis. So he brought this fire back and the motivation. He trusted that I still can play good tennis. And he transferred this to me.”

Talking specifically about Toronto Halep admitted that her coach told her she needed to practice more after losing early in Washington and she is following that advice:

“Patrick told me that I need to practice a little bit more. My serve was not great today. Yeah, I did it because I felt that it was a good idea. And it went very well in the practice. So tomorrow hopefully it’s going to go well in the match as well.”

The 2018 champion will face Pegula next and she knows it's going to be a pretty big challenge:

“It’s going to be a big challenge to face a new opponent. It’s always like that. But it’s going to be a semifinal. So for sure she’s going to play good tennis. She’s solid. She’s in the top already. She has, she had a really good year. And last year, too. But as I always say, I will focus on myself and I will just fight for the match as I did here every time.”