Few players have built a relationship with a tournament as dramatic and emotional as that of Simona Halep and the French Open.
Like Goran Ivanisevic and Jana Novotna, who suffered multiple heartbreaking defeats in Wimbledon finals before ultimately triumphing, Halep lost two epic French finals – yet finally broke through.
In the 2014 final, she pushed Maria Sharapova to the brink before succumbing. Three years later, she was a point from a 6-4 4-0 lead over Jelena Ostapenko before the unheralded Latvian stormed back to win the 2017 title.
In 2018, she rose to Sloane Stephens’ challenge to complete a richly-deserved Roland Garros triumph.
“I was dreaming for this moment since actually I started to play tennis,” Halep said. “It's my favourite Grand Slam. I always said that if I'm going to win one, I want it to be here.”
Halep seemed destined for success in Paris.
She grew up playing on clay, won the French Open junior event in 2008, and the most recent of her fellow Romanians to win the title, Virginia Ruzici, was now her manager.
Halep idolised Justine Henin – the last female player to truly dominate at Roland Garros with four titles in the mid-2000s – and was often compared with the Belgian due to her build, footwork and smooth movement on clay.
Her adeptness on the surface even inspired a 2014 Sports Illustrated piece, which highlighted Halep’s balance and textbook technique during her march to that year’s final.
Halep did not drop a set in six matches to set up a title match with Maria Sharapova, entering that match having won 12 of her past 13.
She and Sharapova battled for three glorious hours before the Russian’s edge in both power and experience proved crucial.
“I was crying (afterward) for a few minutes, and then I was smiling because it was my first Grand Slam final, and I have to be happy, to smile, because I did everything on court,” Halep said after the 6-4 6-7(5) 6-4 loss.
“I played very good tennis, very good level. So I'm really proud about these two weeks.”
Her 2017 final loss was harder to stomach.
Seeded No.3, she was the game’s in-form player on clay, winning the Madrid title, reaching the Rome final and going 20-2 in the surface since April.
And she was an overwhelming favourite when she faced unseeded 20-year-old Ostapenko, who was appearing in her first major final.
Halep raced ahead 6-4 3-0 and held a point for 4-0 before the Latvian found her range to steal the second set. This fightback appeared temporary, for Halep built another lead, this time 3-1 in the final set.
Yet the free-swinging Ostapenko came at Halep again, and her 54th winner – a backhand return down the line – completed the most stunning of upset victories.
“For three months, I was really in a bad mood,” Halep told The New Yorker’s Louisa Thomas. “I was suffering a lot, because I was so close, and I felt that I deserved that trophy, because I played so well.
“But I was not ready.”
In between that loss, and her return to the final 12 months later, Halep suffered another crushing defeat – this one to Caroline Wozniacki in a bruising Australian Open final.
That 7-6(2) 3-6 6-4 loss, lasting nearly three hours, meant she entered the 2018 French Open decider 0-3 in major finals.
Stephens, the reigning US Open champion, had been magnificent on the Parisian red clay, winning her fourth-round, quarterfinal and semifinal matches in straight sets. And she looked impenetrable against Halep, surging to a 6-3 2-0 lead then coming within six points of victory.
Halep could so easily have become overwhelmed with negative thoughts at the prospect of even more French heartbreak.
Yet at 6-3, 4-4, 30-30, she was bold, while Stephens faltered.
Once the match entered a third set, the Romanian played with irresistible purpose and belief to secure her first Grand Slam title.
At last, a dramatic, emotional journey felt complete.
