Simona Halep meets her 'idol' Justine Henin on Tennis Legends to relive defining moments
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Updated 13/05/2020 at 11:06 GMT
On this week's Tennis Legends vodcast, two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep meets her "idol", Justine Henin to recall their defining moments, challenges and much more.
Justine Henin and Simona Halep
Image credit: Eurosport
Both Halep and Henin are currently in lockdown in Romania and Belgium, respectively, after the entire clay-court season had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic with the remainder of the calendar very much in doubt.
Speaking with Tennis Legends presenter Mats Wilander and Boris Becker, the two stars of the WTA Tour - past and present - opened up about their challenges to get to the top and their greatest moments.
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Right from the outset of a hugely-entertaining vodcast, Halep expressed her delight at meeting her "idol" in Henin, who inspired her and her game in so many ways.
"First of all, we have the same height and I thought, 'I have a chance to do it!' - and the backhand, even if I don't have a one-handed backhand, I loved your backhand, Justine!" Halep said on the vodcast.
It’s a pleasure, actually, to talk to my idol! Because I was growing up actually copying her, I have to admit.
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'My idol!' - Halep star-struck by Henin on Tennis Legends
"I have also copied the movement, because she always had strong legs and she was playing very close to the baseline. I tried to copy that.
"It was not perfect because I was very far [away from the baseline] sometimes, but I had it in my mind and I knew it was the best thing to do when you’re not very tall."
In another fascinating discussion, Halep and Henin agreed on the difficulty of facing the great Serena Williams in big finals, with the latter admitting that she was scared of the American at times.
"It was tough in the beginning, I have to admit. There was a lot of intimidation in the way she was looking at you. I will always remember at the beginning of my career, when I had to face Serena and Venus, you had to play both of them, which was really tough.
Of course, I was scared of Serena! I think that at some point of my career, probably like Simona, I protected myself from that and took some distance. We all know this is the key.
"We all know that it is easy to talk about that now, it’s not when you play. When you have to put yourself in this condition, like Simona did at Wimbledon, you can deliver the level that we could see she delivered, which was pretty amazing. That was impressive."
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Simona Halep's secrets to the perfect forehand on clay
Look out for the full Tennis Legends vodcast and the latest podcast on Thursday, and make sure you stay tuned to Eurosport for much more from numerous tennis stars...
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