Halep downplays injury concern ahead of Australian Open return

Facing the press before her 11th Australian Open main draw appearance, former world No. 1 Simona Halep did her best to downplay injury fears after appearing physically ill-at-ease during her Gippsland Trophy defeat to Ekaterina Alexandrova.

“Yesterday I struggled a little bit from the air-conditioning with my low back,” she explained on Saturday. “The muscle got a little bit blocked, but I did some treatment last night, this morning, so I'm getting better now.

“It's nothing dangerous. I'm used to it because it happens when it's that cold. I also had it last year in French Open because it was cold outside. So, I'm not very worried, but I'm taking care of it.”

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Halep, who began the year at an exhibition event in Adelaide last month, had looked strong through her first two matches of her 2021 season before losing 11 of the last 12 games to the big-hitting Russian, who ultimately claimed the contest, 6-2, 6-1.

“I’ve had enough of court time, for sure. I had some matches, which were very good. I will play, practice normal today, not a lot, but just to feel the ball. I don't want to have a total day off from the tennis.

“I will not force something. I will just take care of my back. I will just do my best to get ready for Monday or Tuesday.”

On either day, the 2018 Australian Open runner-up will take on local wildcard Lizette Cabrera as the No. 2 seed, with a potential fourth round clash with French Open champion Iga Swiatek looming. Swiatek famously dismissed the Romanian in Paris last fall en route to her first major title.

"I have results in my head every time I come here," she said. "I always think if I did once, twice, I would have the possibility to do it again, but I don't want to think that much because I put pressure on myself and I expect maybe too much sometimes.

"I will take as a normal tournament, an important one, of course. But I am centered. I'm focused on what I have to do, but I'm not thinking that much about the chances that I have here."

Unbothered by aches and pains, Halep has felt more encumbered by the so-called "bubble life" and constant quarantining required to play tournaments since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Can we go back to normal and we don't think about this situation anymore?” she asked with a laugh.

“You need to get out. You need the normal life. We are used to walk during the evenings. We are used to go eat at the restaurants. When you cannot do these things and you are waiting the box in the room with the food, it is not easy. It's every day.”

The change in routine is yet to interrupt her results in a major way; the two-time Grand Slam champion came away with two WTA titles post-lockdown, including a long-awaited victory at the Foro Italico in Rome.

The continued consistency will allow Halep to celebrate seven years as a Top 10 player, having first cracked the elite threshold back in 2014.

“I think I've been very focused on my job, because I call it a job. It is a job in my head. Of course, is full of passion and also the pleasure that I have for this sport, but it's a job...I've been very professional and I think I work hard for what I achieved already.

“When I was a kid, [tennis] was more for fun. It was more like something new every day, but in the last five, seven years, I can say in a part it is a job, but I also have the passion that keeps me alive in this sport.”

That passion will likely be on full display as she takes on the Aussie-backed Cabrera next week.