Simona Halep was the guest of the Așii Tenisului show , from Digi Sport, which was broadcast on Christmas night.
How did the great Federer react when Simona Halep asked him for an autograph: “I’m sorry!”
The holder of the 2nd WTA position spoke, among other things, about the battle that takes place in the men’s tennis circuit and recalled her first meeting with Roger Federer , an emotional one, as the Romanian admits.
“I was in 2007, at Wimbledon, I went to the training grounds, I had the junior badge and I went to the racket to drop off a racket. I saw him there, I was shocked, I didn’t know how to I react and handed him the badge, I asked him if he could give me an autograph.
And then he asked me what I was doing there, how I was. I told him that I like tennis, that I am also at Wimbledon and I am glad that it is there, I had never seen a grass court before.
It was very warm and gave me a very nice feeling. Even though he was very famous and very good in our sport, he spoke to me and wished me well ,” said Simona Halep, on the show Ace of Tennis.
Halep also spoke about the possible retirement of the great Swiss champion , who has not yet recovered from the two knee operations she underwent.
“It wouldn’t be a tragedy to retire at 40, you being Federer. It will be a tragedy, in quotation marks, for our sport, for his colleagues, we will miss him a lot.
He was an idol for our entire generation, a beauty on the field and off the field, a very civilized man, with common sense, warm to everyone. A genius, in my view, and it would be quite sad for the sport if Federer were to disappear, but I think that when he decides to do so, it will be a wise decision. Life means something else besides tennis, he has an age and what he has achieved is enormous” , said Simona.
- 20 Grand Slam tournaments won by Roger Federer, the all-time leader in tennis, tied with Rafael Nadal
