Prague, Aug 10 Current World No.2 Simona Halep has admitted that tennis had taken a backseat for her in the initial days when the world was dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Halep was out of action due to an injury even before the pandemic disrupted the tennis calendar.
Halep is now making her comeback to tennis at the Prague Open. "It was a shock for me to see that everything was shut down," Halep told WTA. "I'm used to traveling so much and suddenly I had to stay home every day and live the normal life. It was a shock. I didn't understand. I didn't want to accept it at first.
"Then to see so many struggling with their health, I was worried, I have to admit. I was worried at the beginning. Then I asked many people around me and they told me if I protect myself and I take care of me and the people around me, it's going to be ok. So I did that and I'm still doing that.
"So I feel positive and I don't feel as negative anymore. But I'm sure we are still struggling, the whole world is still struggling. The economy will be tough and many people will struggle. We have to be patient and believe that it's going to be better."
The Romanian said she took her time to get back to the court after the injury. "Darren (coach Darren Cahill) said if I can be focused, then train like I have a tournament next week it is a big plus. But if not, if one day I come to the court and I don't feel the pleasure that I have to work, then I might take the day off. So I was not stressed to play every day. I took some days off when I felt like it. But if not, then I pushed hard myself.
"So his advice was to take it day-by-day and not think if I miss one day it would be a disaster because I have time. I have to relax my mind because you never know what will happen next week. Every day it's changing, in Romania also. So the fact that we were open to train was a plus and I took it like that."
( With inputs from IANS )