Simona Halep: ‘Serena still the best in the world’

Published by Matt Trollope

Simona Halep is through to the quarterfinals at Indian Wells, where she will face Petra Martic; Getty Images
World No.1 Simona Halep gives a glowing assessment of Venus and Serena Williams after attending their third-round match at Indian Wells.

“I’m the world No. 1 in this moment, but I just watched the best player in the world.”

That was how Simona Halep felt watching Serena Williams taking on sister Venus in the third round of Indian Wells on Monday night.

Halep was a keen spectator for the 29th clash between the iconic sisters, a match Venus went on to win in straight sets to reach the last 16.

Tonight I’m just a fan of the game and the Williams sisters ??????????

A post shared by Simona Halep (@simonahalep) on

On Tuesday, Halep returned to Indian Wells and beat Wang Qiang 7-5 6-1 to join Venus in the fourth round.

And she was asked about how her attendance at Venus-Serena XXIX came about.

“It was my idea last night, actually. It’s always nice to watch them,” Halep said.

“I love the way that they are motivated and they are still playing at this age, Serena with the kid. So it’s a great thing what they do for sport, and it’s great that tennis has them.

“It was really fun to come out here and watch the game. And also I have many things to learn from them. That’s why I’m trying just to go in to watch every time I can.”

Halep’s coach Darren Cahill that same day tweeted that the Venus-Serena match should not have been occurring in the third round, had Serena been awarded a maternity-related protected seeding.

Williams was unseeded at Indian Wells despite a protected ranking of No.1, making possible an early meeting with her eighth-seeded sister.

Halep had discussed this topic with Cahill, and agreed with the Aussie.

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“I think she should have been actually No.1 seed in this tournament because she left as No. 1 in the world,” Halep said.

“And to give birth, it’s the best thing in the world. It’s more than a sport. So I think she should have been ranked as she left.

“Not taking the ranking because she didn’t play tournaments, but just protected ranking for — I don’t know how many tournaments you have, like, eight. She could be the No. 1 seed for that, for those tournaments.

“This is my opinion.”

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