Ahead of exhibition match with Steffi Graf & Andre Agassi, Simona Halep & her ex-coach Darren Cahill catch up to discuss tactics

Simona Halep recently caught up with her ex-coach Darren Cahill. Cahill joked that they discussed tactics for the upcoming exhibition match with Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi.

Halep will partner with Andrei Pavel, a former Romanian tennis player, and will play in an exhibition match against the legendary couple on June 15. The exhibition match will be staged in Cluj-Napoca. The early-bird tickets for the match have already been sold out, in just 5 hours.

The Romanian took to Instagram to share a snap from their meeting and also praised her former coach, calling him a super human.

"Happy to catch some time with this super human. A great coach but an even better friend," Simona Halep wrote.

As Cahill and Halep met to catch up, the duo joked that they discussed tactics for the highly touted exhibition match.

"Tactics talk for the Agassi/Graf battle in Cluj. Great to see you, Simo," Cahill wrote.

Source- Darren Cahill's Instagram handle

Simona Halep was banned from playing tennis for four years, following a banned substance being found in her blood. She appealed the decision and the ban was reduced. The Romanian made her comeback at the 2024 Miami Open after receiving a wildcard, losing in the first round.

She was refused a wildcard at the 2024 French Open despite being a former champion, therefore she did not participate in the tournament. However, she played at WTA125 Paris but had to retire mid-match in the first round.

---

Simona Halep - "The schedule was like an army"

Simona Halep at the 2024 Miami Open

Simona Halep recently gave an interview to Tennis Channel and talked about how her routine changed when she was banned. The Romanian said she started to focus on herself more as a person rather than an athlete. She added that owing to her schedule while playing tennis, she never got a chance to live a normal life.

“I was focusing more on my person than [as] an athlete. So I was taking care of my body, I was taking care of my mental, I transformed everything into a personal lifestyle. I just enjoyed life day by day, that I never had the chance to live normal in this 25 years because I was always, in the schedule, always strict, always something to do," Halep said to Tennis Channel. [7:25]

With more time on her hands, the Romanian said she did things she previously couldn't like going to the the hair salon and sitting by the pool.

"The schedule was like an army, I would say. And now it was like I could go by the pool, I could go to a hair salon, I could go to do all this stuff that a person, normal person can do it. So I enjoyed it,” she added.