Some people are afraid of flying, but who knew one of those people would be Simona Halep, a professional tennis player who makes her career out of traveling the globe?
Well, perhaps not flying in general, just flying on a single private plane. Before coming into this year's Cincinnati Masters, the second seed's support team took to the skies, while she drove six hours to southwestern Ohio from...Buffalo. The Romanian told the whole story during a roundtable at the Western & Southern Open.
"Darren [Cahill, her coach] told me that it's really complicated to get a normal flight [from Toronto to Cincinnati]," Halep told a roundtable of reporters during WTA All Access Hour. "So he asked me if I would like to have a private plane. So for the first time of my life I said 'OK, let's take it.' He arranged everything. We went there five minutes before and everything was ok.
"The first time I saw the plane I was scared, to be honest. He said be calm, it will be ok. We had to stop in Buffalo because of customs. I said that's enough, that 30 minute flight. I am not going to go again in that plane. So I got a car and came by car."
Whether or not Halep used the opportunity to sample some of Buffalo's local delicacies—chicken wings, beef on weck, souvlaki (always served on skewers), Schabadoo's—is unclear. Regardless, the world No. 2 enjoyed the sights of the venerable town and its leafy suburbs.
"The view [during the drive] was really good. And it was quiet. That plane was moving a little bit too much. I was better on the ground (laughs).
"The plane was too small. I got claustrophobic. I felt like I had no air. I was like...white (laughs). And cold. The two boys—my physio and my fitness trainer—they went by private plane and I came with Darren. Poor Darren. I'm sorry for him (laughs). It was relaxed, actually, after that plane. I drove two hours, he drove four hours."
Halep is attempting to become the first Romanian world No. 1, needing to reach the semifinals to have a chance at dethroning Karolina Pliskova. With shots like this one, she may be well on her way.
