What do you think about Simona Halep?

[Si Si Simona]

To answer your original question "what do you think about her?", I think that she has a great future ahead of her. I see her in the top 5 if she is able to maintain her level of play. Could she win a slam, I'm not sure. If she gets a favorable draw and there are a few upsets (Wimblegeddon 2013) anything is possible. Her stature reminds me of Justine, and although they are very different in style of play, she shares one important feature with Justine, great court positioning for return shots.

You have a very good opinion of her, I wish she will be able to achieve all your predictions but it will be very tough. I am happy with just being top 8-10 at end of 2014. Its not a walk in the park.
As for Justine: Justine is her idol, she said that officially. She tries to play like Justine and attack as much as she can even without having the power of the big girls, same as Justine did. So, imo she does play like Justine and she does has the same style of play. Same height too, 168 v 167 of Justine.

Anyway it was a great fun and a big sports story to follow Simo this year. I have no clue what will happen in 2014.
She played "out of her skin" and she may get back into her skin.. who knows the future?

 

[ozza]

Hi ozza,
I didnt want to go as deep as you did in your great comment above.
I am new here and after the horrible experience I had on the TF forum, I am not risking being too bold in my comments. I just need a mental rest of my own here.
I joined TF on July 13 thinking that all tennis fans are like Simon Reed from Eurosport, intelligent, polite, friendly. How little I knew... People like you still give me hope and believe in tennis fans (not joking).
The reality about the Romanian players image in the west media is exactly as you told it but I got used to it by now and I am indifferent to it.
Just an example: The Eurosport website with its very strong western (British) orientation did not had even one article about Simona until she won Sofia! Not even after Moscow or New Haven. I was visiting their website regularly and they simply boycotted her. I am not exaggerating. I picked my words carefully. They hated her until they had no choice after Sofia, and then they kept the article about her win for less than 12 hours on air lol. After 12 hours they replaced her article with men tennis articles..lol.. talking about professionalism and fairness to someone who won 5 events in 5 months until Sofia...
Many times I feel that tennis is a tool owned by the west, and they just fake their claim that its a world wide sports.

Assuming your using the British Eurosport version, that website is basically British media which tends to be pretty average when it comes to women's tennis.

British media obviously has a fascination with Laura Robson, but doesn't really have any idea of the game around her. The general rubbish you get in our papers is after Serena retires it will be free reign for Laura because of a lack of competition. Obviously it's poorly researched, and written with extreme bias.

There's also that same grand slam focus. Because grand slams are the main focus of the media, there is a general ignorance towards the tour. While this grand slam focus is very relevant at the top of tennis, these players aren't at the top of tennis, it's important for them to build consistency on the tour. Thus there's a general ignorance to Laura's struggles on the tour, and a focus on a couple of flashy wins at the majors. You then get rubbish like a disappointing tone when she loses to Na Li, there was some claims in our media that this was a step back for Laura because she beat her last year, as if Laura is meant to consistently beat the world number 6.

 

[rubydo]

As a number of you know, I AM in the media, not covering tennis on a grand scale, but it is in my work environment, secondary to my advertising commitments to the paper I work for on Vancouver Island. Yes, I am going to concentrate on our Canadian players when I cover tournaments, whether here in Canada or on my one jaunt overseas to Eastbourne in June. However, I am not immune to interviewing and following other players, as noted many times I find the Zvonareva's and Kirilenko's of the tennis world worthwhile players to follow and write about. I know a number of press people from the UK and they do concentrate on their own players and rightfully so.
I will be keenly interested to see how Simona and the rest of Romanian contingent do next year, and it is very likely I will try and get an interview with one of them. I see potentially great talent there. Cirstea picked up a lot of fans in Toronto this year, with her appearance in the final and got a good amount of press coverage. It boils down to priorities, but from my perspective, I would never alienate a player from getting deserved media coverage simply because she is from Romania. That would be immature and inappropriate. Anyway, Canadian reporters have a different perspective on reporting than many other countries. Enough said.

 

[Si Si Simona]

Assuming your using the British Eurosport version,

On Eurosport there are two different pages in English. One is for "International" sports, the other is for British people with the word British inside the address (in the URL). I was careful of visiting the International page and I am talking only about this page which was supposed to be hmm... "International". They ignored Halep until Sofia on the International page. No excuses. I am not attacking you of course
The rest of your comment is very true and correct. I understand local bias, its normal, but when a phenomena like winning 5 events in 5 months happens, then this can not be ignored on the International webpage (not the British page). It smells bad.
International page: http://eurosport.yahoo.com/tennis/
British page: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/tennis/
They can write only about Laura and Andy on the British page but they must keep it neutral and fair on the International page.

Anyway, Canadian reporters have a different perspective on reporting than many other countries. Enough said.

As far as I am concerned, Canadian media always looked unbiased and fair to me. Even if they may had failures in reporting, it was not done deliberately
What I am complaining about is a deliberate ignore because of stereotyping, image, ethnic background.
Here, I just said it.
I never asked for special treatment for my favorite player. I asked for a fair treatment. If any player wins 5 events in 5 months after coming from "no where", then this is a BIG sports story. It should not be ignored because some sports editor on Eurosport does not like Halep or Romanians.

 

[Tennis-tennis]

I think i am in love with her!! :heart: Have been for a while now:blush:

 

[my sherona]

Is she as beautiful as maria sharapova aka The Empress?

 

[Tennis-tennis]

Is she as beautiful as maria sharapova aka The Empress?

she is as beautiful as maria,if not more!!You just have to look through my eyes (*whisper* Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder )

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

I think i am in love with her!! :heart: Have been for a while now:blush:

Welcome!

Lovers are always welcome!!
My Sherona is one!

 

[Tennis-tennis]

Welcome!

Lovers are always welcome!!
My Sherona is one!

Haha thanks for the welcome, Kiu!

 

[Tennis-tennis]

Just read on tennis.com that Simona is making a coaching change for next year. It says-"she wants to take further steps in her career with other coaches."
Unexpected but I hope everything goes goes well for her.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

I hope that Simona find's a new coach that can take her further in her career
Good luck Simona.

 

[the AntiPusher]

[attachment=43]

Words cannot do her justice