SECRET REASON HALEP WAS SO TAFF TO BEAT
SIMONA HALEP insists she was not the surprise hit of Wimbledon – those honours go to Welsh teenager Tom Thelwall-Jones.
The world No.7 stunned SW19 on Saturday by stopping Serena Williams’ hunt for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title in its tracks, beating her 6-2 6-2 in just 56 minutes on Centre Court.
But the superstitious Halep says her lucky hitting partner from Wrexham helped her stunning win.
“It was the tournament who put us in touch,” she said. “At the practice desk, they recommended him, I liked him and I kept him.
“If I feel good with the person and relaxed on court, I try to hit with the same person every day.
“He has the energy to play well and he is a great guy. So I really thank him for these two weeks.”
It is the second time in three years that the women’s champion has received an unexpected boost from Wales.
“I knew Matt James from North Wales and two years ago he hit with Garbine Muguruza when she won it,” said 19-year-old Thelwall-Jones (above), who is on a tennis scholarship at the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma. “I asked him to put in a good word for me.
“I was designated to hit with Simona on a Championship Court and she requested me back to warm her up for the first round.
“For the second round she hit with a left-hander but ever since she’s played right-handers so I’ve always hit with her. Then she got me tickets to both the semi-final and the final.”
Thelwall-Jones also hit with Rafa Nadal, Ash Barty, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Kevin Anderson and Marin Cilic during a busy fortnight.
What impressed him most, though, was Halep’s calm nature.
“Her on-court interview really showed off who Simona is,” he said. “She’s very nice, very chilled out.
“I thought that potentially she’d get uptight close to the final, nervous. But she was just the same throughout – the whole team are very nice.
“I got the text from her trainer to say, ‘See you next year,’ so we’ll see.”
The pair may even get back together before then. As a parting shot, Halep joked: “Perhaps I should take him to the US Open.”