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Mats Wilander tips Simona Halep to dominate WTA
by Reem Abulleil
Former world No1 Mats Wilander believes Simona Halep has a Novak Djokovic-like streak in her future as he tips the young Romanian to top the women’s game in the upcoming years.
Halep has had a remarkable 17 months - stretching back to May last year – where she has picked up eight titles, reached the French Open final, and peaked at No2 in the world.
The 23-year-old posted her first top-three win of her career against world No1 Serena Williams earlier this week and Wilander – a seven-time major champion – believes Halep will continue to build up confidence that can make her unstoppable in the near future.
“I think she has played some matches at a different level than the rest of the girls apart from maybe Serena because of the serve,” Wilander told Sport360° on the sidelines of the WTA Finals in Singapore.
“But from the baseline I think Halep can play at a different level from the rest of the girls because she moves so well and she’s so solid from both sides and I’m sure that her confidence is growing and growing.
“She literally is going to be like Novak Djokovic, she might be unbeatable one day.
“She plays the same. She is smart. And most probably playing at the top level more often, her mentality is going to get better and better, her body language is going to be positive all the time and once it is then I think players are going to be fearing her big time.
“I think she’s just going to get better and better for the next two, three years so yes I think she is a future No1.”
Wilander was also in awe of Williams’ most recent achievement – finishing the year as No1 on a fourth separate occasion, 12 years after she did it the first time. It is a span that is a record in women’s tennis.
“Her career longevity is actually the most impressive part about her career,” said Wilander.
“There was a time when we always said ‘she doesn’t play enough tennis and tennis is not the only thing on her mind… she should focus on the sport and do bla bla bla…’
“Turns out that we were all wrong and she’s right. So I think that’s probably the record that she should be the most proud over. Because everybody can win grand slams, but to hang in there and be the best player in the world 12 years later, that’s amazing.”
One of the topics heavily discussed this week in Singapore has been on-court coaching, with WTA founder and legend, Billie Jean King, urging the men’s tour to follow in the ladies’ footsteps by allowing the coaches to help their players during matches.
Wilander, who currently works for Eurosport as a commentator, says he vehemently disagrees with King’s suggestion.
“If they introduce in the men’s side I’m stopping covering tennis, seriously,” said the Swede.
“Because it’s not what tennis is. Tennis is an individual sport and that’s the difference. The difference is that we don’t have coaching on the court and the difference is that you have to do everything yourself and that’s part of the beauty of the sport I think.
“So no I think that’s first of all crazy and I think they would never allow it in the grand slams anyway. So I think the only bad thing about having coaches in the WTA is that they don’t allow it in the grand slams so then there’s such a major difference for the players. And I think we’ve seen that some players do better on the regular tour than they do in grand slams.
“But on the men’s side, no no no. If that happens, I stop. That would be the worst thing they could possibly do for men’s tennis.”
http://sport360.com/article/international/27966/mats-wilander-tips-simona-halep-dominate-wta
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She gained nothing by not taking her opportunity and using it wisely and strategically like a chess move.
