Serena Williams said what she could ‘never forget’ about Simona Halep just before losing to her in the Wimbledon final back in 2019
Serena Williams explained what was key to approach when facing Simona Halep.
On Tuesday, the Romanian announced her retirement from tennis in front of her home fans after losing at the Winners’ Open in Cluj-Napoca.
Despite returning to the WTA Tour in 2024 18 months after receiving a ban for a positive drug test, Halep could not quite rediscover her best level.
Therefore, Halep decided to hang up her racket and bring a very impressive career to a disappointing end.
How did Serena Williams approach the 2019 Wimbledon final against Simona Halep?
The finest moment of Simona Halep’s career came in the 2019 Wimbledon final.
She took on Serena Williams for the right to lift the Venus Rosewater dish, in what was their 11th match against each other, and claimed a straight sets win to claim the title.
Post-match Williams, who lost to Halep just twice in 12 meetings, was asked how she approaches each of her matches against her fellow former World number one.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion said: “I think the biggest key with our matches is the loss that I had. I never forgot it.
“She played unbelievable. That makes me know that level she played at, she can get there again. So I have to be better than that.”
The loss Williams is referring to came in the round robin stage of the 2014 WTA Finals, when Halep defeated her 6-0-6-2, which was Williams’ heaviest defeat since 1998.
Williams soon gained some revenge as the pair met in the final and Williams won 6-3, 6-0 to win her fifth and final WTA Finals crown, and third in a row.
Simona Halep beat Serena Williams to win Wimbledon title
In their Wimbledon championship match, Halep was flawless against the American, who had no answer to the sustained brilliance from the other side of the net.
Halep secured a comprehensive 6-2, 6-2 victory to become Wimbledon champion for the first time and secure her second and last victory against Williams.
This was the fewest number of games Williams won in a Grand Slam final and this would be the last time she would reach the final at the All-England Club.
Commenting on Halep’s performance, Williams said: “She just played great. So I don’t think it’s a surprise for anyone to play great against me.
“I just was trying different things. Today nothing really helped. But also made way too many errors for a lot of stuff to work.”
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