Australian Open: 'I felt the energy from them' - Halep puts on dominant display for crowd

ByCarrie Dunn

Updated 08/02/2021 at 11:18 GMT

Former world number one Simona Halep told Barbara Schett and Mats Wilander in the Eurosport Cube that she was delighted and emotional to be back playing in front of a crowd on the biggest stage of all as she got her Grand Slam campaign off to a brilliant start on Monday at the Australian Open.

It was an emotional day for second seed Simona Halep as she got her Australian Open campaign under way on Rod Laver Arena.

She wasn't out there for long, dismissing home hope Lizette Cabrera 6-2, 6-1, but even in that short time she revelled in being able to play in front of a crowd again.

"I was very emotional before the match, I have to admit, it's always nice to have people around and feel the energy from them," the 29-year-old told Barbara Schett in Eurosport's Cube. "I missed it so much last year and I'm really happy to have the chance to play with the people."

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'I was very emotional' - Halep on returning to Australian Open

The Romanian has had an ongoing struggle with a back problem, but confirmed that it is no longer causing her too many issues.

"I struggled with the back a few days ago, it was too cold with the air conditioning when the roof was closed [on Margaret Court Arena during the warm-up tournament] so my back was a little bit blocked," she explained. "I'm very, very good now."

Highlights | Lizette Cabrera - Simona Halep

Eurosport expert Mats Wilander was impressed with what he saw.

"She looked excellent," he enthused.

Everything that she does well, she did well, she moved well, she served well, hit her backhand in her sleep. She can hit that well, but but she looked really good.

He went on: "I think that the courts are apparently playing even quicker this year, so I think that would favour Simona against players that don't have that much power."

The Australian Open is live on Eurosport. Watch every match live and ad-free on the Eurosport app and eurosport.co.uk. You can download the Eurosport app for iOS and Android now.

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