Halep jumps into river to celebrate Prague title

Aug 17, 2020
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Halep jumps into river to celebrate Prague title

Published Aug 17, 2020

Simona Halep lifted title No. 21 on Sunday after a 6-2, 7-5 win over Elise Mertens. It marks the world No. 2's first clay-court title since the 2018 French Open.

Though she won't be traveling to New York, Halep soaked in her victory to the best of her COVID-19 safe abilities.

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She posed for mask and mask-less photos during the champion's photoshoot, switching seamlessly between the two.

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"I was unhappy that the people couldn’t see my smile, because I was smiling all the way!" she told TENNIS.com. "But we have to respect the rules and I’m happy to see that all the people are respecting it. We have to be safe first, with everything. We can smile under the masks, so it’s all good. If we feel like smiling, it’s enough."

Then she literally went to soak in her win by jumping into the nearby Vltava river. It was a bet she'd made with tournament director David Trunda ahead of the week starting.

She was joined in the brief swim by Trunda, one of her coaches Artemon Apostu Efremov and her physiotherapist Cosmin Diaconeasa.

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Halep will remain in Europe for the U.S. hard-court swing but has a few options ahead in Istanbul, Strasbourg and Rome ahead of the French Open.