“I found the joy of being on court”- Simona Halep credits change in mindset for her recent resurgence

Simona Halep booked a place in the quarter-finals of the 2022 Indian Wells after she defeated her compatriot Sorana Cirstea 6-1, 6-4 in the fourth round.

Halep struggled with her serve throughout the match as she registered 4 double faults and just 47% of her first serve, but the Romanian held her nerves in clutch moments and saved all the three break points she faced to progress through to the last 8 in the desert for the fifth time in her career.

Simona's surging ??

?? @Simona_Halep wins the Romanian derby to progress to the quarterfinals!#IndianWells pic.twitter.com/8vOYOoF9GH
— wta (@WTA) March 15, 2022

Halep who facing Cirstea for the first time in more than a decade weighed in her thoughts about the match. The Romanian fell out of the top-10 rankings last year after she suffered a calf injury at the backend of the season. The former World No.1 said she is delighted with her progress so far and is able to find her rhythm as she begins her ascent up the rankings.

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“I think everybody has a little bit of stress when it’s playing against a person that is from the same country. But I can say I’m used to it. I’ve played so many times with all the Romanians. But with her, I didn’t play in the last 12 years, so it was something new. I feel happy that slowly I find my rhythm. I find the joy of being on the court, competing, and also fighting for every point I play,” she said.

The win against Cirstea confirmed Halep’s place in the standings as the top-ranked Romanian. Had Halep lost to Cirstea she would have plummeted down the rankings and Cirstea would have become the Romanian No.1. Halep also extended her winning streak against her compatriots to 19 matches with her last loss having come against Cirstea at the 2010 Cincinnati Open.

Simona Halep to take on Petra Martic in the last 8

2015 champion Halep will now square off against Petra Martic in the quarter-finals. Prior to the tournament, Martic had not registered back-to-back wins since May 2021, but the Croatian has made quite the turnaround to reach the last 8 in the desert for the first time since 2018. She notched up one of the biggest wins of her career by defeating reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu in the third round.

Halep was stretched to the distance during her opener against Ekaterina Alexandrova and then notched up consecutive straight-set wins over Coco Gauff and Sorana Cirstea. This will be Halep’s third meeting against Martic and she holds a 2-1 head-to-head record over the Croatian.