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Former world No. 1 Simona Halep was happy with the start she made at the Indian Wells Masters as she is enjoying being in the desert in this part of the year. Halep, the 2015 Indian Wells winner, beat Marta Kostyuk 7-6 (2) 6-1 in her opener at the tournament.
After recovering from a break down in the first set and winning the opener, Halep broke Kostyuk twice in the second set to book a straight-set win. "Always when I come back here, I feel great. It's really nice to be healthy again and to compete at this level.
Playing in October here, it's so special," Halep said after the match, per the WTA website. "I missed a lot playing tennis at this level this year because I've been injured and many months, I couldn't play matches. I came here a little more aggressive than normal and I'm trying to improve my game and myself.
My attitude was not great but I'm going to keep working and it's just a pleasure to be back and to win a match at Indian Wells."
Halep not ready to walk away
Halep, 30, has had problems with injuries this year but recently made it clear that retirement is not an option.
“I don't know why everyone is talking about the end of my career. It's not close. I really want to play more. Due to injuries I had little doubts that I could still, but now I am very fit, I am healthy, and I want to play for another two or three years, four years," Halep said, per Treizecizero.
Recently, Romanian world No. 111 Jaqueline Cristian revealed how inspirational Halep has been to her. “She is the one who started to show us that it is possible,” Cristian said. "That gives you confidence. “She is a great player, and I always tried to learn something from her. It is really motivating that someone from Romania made it like that, because it is hard."