Halep: I've recovered from injury; it was the hardest time in my career

Tennis player Simona Halep, world number 10, said on Thursday morning, before leaving for Canada to compete in the National Bank Open 2021 tournament, that she has recovered from a torn muscle, adding that the recent past, when she had to retire from Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the Olympics, was the hardest in her career. "Anything is possible in such an injury. I had never been through something like this, a torn muscle. The doctors told me that I have recovered; I feel recovered, but in an official match it is different. So I will see when I get there [in Canada]. It was the hardest time of my career because it was a pretty serious injury, I had never met anything like that, but I took the positive side and I was glad to stay home," said Halep at the Henri Coanda Airport. "I'm much better now, I've rested mentally. But I'm also physically well; I didn't have any pain while I trained. Now I hope to be able to play the tournaments. I intend to be healthy and play as many matches as possible. I am missing the field, I am missing competition, and I know it will be very difficult at the beginning, but I'm not afraid. I will go there with confidence and I will see what I can do. The time I spent at home was very nice. It's always pleasant to be at home and hard to leave. But I'm motivated for what's next, my mind is there," Halep added. The National Bank Open 2021 tournament in Montreal, the first to be attended by Halep in three months, is scheduled for August 9-15. On May 12, Simona Halep, 29, was forced to give up due to an injury in the second round in Rome, at 6-1 3-3 0-30 over German Angelique Kerber, after 57 minutes of game. Diagnosed with a calf injury, Halep was unable to compete in the Roland Garros and Wimbledon Grand Slam tournaments or the Tokyo Olympics. AGERPRES (RO - author: Marius Tone, editor: Mihai Tenea, EN - author Corneliu Colceriu, editor: Cristina Zaharia)