Halep looks on positive side

Paris

– Simona Halep (above) admitted yesterday she was “ashamed” that her on-court behaviour prompted respected coach Darren Cahill to call a temporary halt to their partnership.

Australian Cahill quit in frustration at the Romanian’s negative demeanour after she surrendered winning positions to Britain’s Johanna Konta in Miami in March.

Cahill called it quits until the duo were reunited just in time for the build-up to the French Open where the 26-year-old reached the quarterfinals yesterday.

During the changeover before the final set in Miami, Cahill spent the best part of three minutes sitting next to Halep, desperately trying to coax her out of her negativity.

“You can give up on yourself, but I’m not,” said Cahill.

It didn’t work as Halep slipped to a dispiriting defeat.

“I didn’t like it when I saw the video (of the Cahill pep talk), I felt ashamed about what I did,” said Halep.

“But now I’m happy I can be positive on court, and I will never be negative like I was in Miami.”

Halep said she had reached out to the 51-year-old Cahill who has worked with the likes of Andre Agassi, Andy Murray and Ana Ivanovic in his time.

“He told me we will talk after Paris. But then he liked how I was in the Fed Cup and then in Stuttgart,” she explained.

“So I think when I finished Stuttgart, he said he had seen enough, and he’s ready to return.

“I asked him if he wants to come back before Madrid. He said yes, because I improved a lot, and he saw that I really wanted to change that.”

Halep, the third seed, made the quarterfinals at Roland Garros yesterday for the first time since 2014 when she went on to finish runner-up to Maria Sharapova.

She needed just an hour to coast to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro. –