Eighteen-time Grand Slam winner praises Simona Halep’s decision to compete without a coach

Chris Evert has praised Simona Halep’s decision to split with her coaches and not hire a replacement.

Halep had been working with Daniel Dobre and Adrian Marcu, but parted ways with both coaches after her fourth-round defeat at the Australian Open.

It came just four months after Halep ended her working relationship with Darren Cahill – a former top 25 player that has coached the likes of Andre Agassi and Andy Murray.

Cahill first started working with Halep in 2016, helping her reach three Grand Slam finals, win the 2018 French Open, and achieve world number one status.

After parting ways with Cahill in 2018, Halep hired Dobre in 2019 and won Wimbledon in the same year.

Just months later, the Romanian announced the return of Cahill as a coach and the pair worked alongside each other until September of last season.

Halep then reconnected with Dobre and Marcu, who had also coached the tennis star back in 2013.

The 30-year-old has now given up on coaches entirely, telling Treizecizero that she would rather work by herself.

“I do not have a coach, I haven’t talked to any coach these days, and at the moment I don’t want to take a coach,” Halep said.

“I didn’t break up with Mr Marcu and Mr Dobre to start with someone else, that’s the idea – it’s a time when I want to take responsibility, to strengthen myself as a person and I also want to experiment, let me see how much I can do on my own.

“I have a lot of advice left to me from all the coaches I’ve worked with, especially from my six years with Darren, I have a lot of ideas and now they all seem to come, especially when you are relaxed and you don’t feel the pressure of the team.”

Halep will now train at the Patrick Mouratoglou Academy in the French Riviera before she travels