PARIS (AP) — Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep said she had a panic attack while leading her second-round match that she eventually lost at the French Open on Thursday.
The 2018 Roland Garros winner said she "lost it" and couldn't regain focus while playing 19-year-old Qinwen Zheng, who won 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 at Court Simonne-Mathieu.
"I had a break in the second set, but then something happened. I just lost it," the 30-year-old Romanian said in her post-match press conference. "It was just a panic attack. It happened. I didn't know how to handle it because I don't have it often."
Halep, the 2019 Wimbledon champion, had already amassed 20 wins this season and had beaten 74th-ranked Zheng in January.
Halep said she likely put too much pressure on herself.