Simona Halep’s return to the circuit will have a Spanish presence, that of the coach that the Romanian has chosen to help her at this stage of her career: Carlos Martínez. Today we interview him exclusively to find out all the details of this union.
Simona Halep’s life changed forever on October 21, 2022, the date on which her provisional suspension for failing an anti-doping test was made official. But life turns, it moves forward, it never stands still, as was confirmed on March 5, 2024, the date on which the Romanian won the trial and finally had the green light to return to the circuit at the Miami Open, where she lost in the first round against Paula Badosa two days ago. Her next step was to contact a prestigious coach to accompany her on this new adventure, someone with experience who provides the same motivation that she feels. She did not doubt it for a second, that person was going to find her in Barcelona and his name is Carlos Martínez (Mollet, 1974).
Recognized for his work with Svetlana Kuznetsova, Margarita Gasparyan and Daria Kasatkina, the Spanish coach had been away from the big spotlight on the circuit for a few months, specifically, since he stopped collaborating with Clara Tauson last summer. But there are calls that one cannot refuse, in this case, that of Darren Cahill. The Australian, Halep’s former coach and one of her great friends today, contacted Carlos to ask for a trial period with the Romanian. Not because he believed it was convenient, but because the player herself had pointed to the Spanish as the first and only resource. Faced with an opportunity like this, there is no possible problem.
“I’m very happy, very excited,” the Catalan tells us through a phone call, who was not at the Miami Open because Simona asked him to. “I was watching the game against Badosa and he had it in hand, he was 6-1 and 1-0 up with a break point, but he made a mistake and from there the game changed. Physically it was seen that he was still missing, his shoulder started to bother him, he asked for physio, but he continued fighting until the end. Simona had not played a single training set before the tournament but, as she herself tells me, she is very eager,” acknowledges one of the best coaches in our tennis.
Martínez has been traveling the professional circuit for many years, especially the women’s circuit, where she has established herself in the last decade with several projects that made people talk due to their rapid evolution. During his time with Kuznetsova, for example, they found two great allies in the Halep-Cahill duo to schedule training sessions and make everyday life a little more enjoyable, hence a friendship emerged that is now formalized through a professional agreement. . But Carlos knows that, no matter how much the two of them push with all their might, the beginnings in a case as unique as this will not be easy.
“The adrenaline, the desire of each one, counts a lot, but it would be logical that the fine-tuning would take some time. We are talking about a person who has not competed for more than a year and a half, it will not be a quick process, but I prefer to stay with the positive aspects. First of all, he has ambition, that moves mountains. Now is the time to get together and start working on everything, both tennis and the physical section. It will be three weeks of a lot of preparation to get to the clay court tour well, without forgetting about prevention so that he does not get injured,” he says exclusively for Puntodebreak.
Installed in his Tennis Academy in Mollet, where he supervises the evolution of several young people who dream of reaching the elite, Carlos Martínez’s plans for the coming weeks were to continue traveling with rackets like Nikolás Sánchez Izquierdo, Alina Charaeva, Ekaterina Reyngold or Lina Glushko, some of the names that usually train on their slopes. Now, after Halep’s call, the Spaniard confesses to having a broken heart for momentarily separating himself from his pupils, but the response from all of them has been exquisite, understanding the situation and wishing him the best in this next cycle.
“The fact that Simona was so convinced that she wanted to work with me was what ended up convincing me, if she shows interest I show the same or more. Just last week she had rejected another very interesting project, but here we are talking about Halep, a top player, she had to take the plunge,” she says with total confidence. I have seen that she has things very clear, at this point we no longer have to instill in her how things are done, she already comes with that foundation of so many years of experience. She is a person with a lot of personality, she has a strong character and knows perfectly what she wants. I still don’t know her that well, I know that she is a good girl, but what Darren tells me is that she is very demanding,” explains the 49-year-old technician.
If we look beyond 2024, Martínez also reveals to us where the future lies for a woman who dreams of a glorious return to the slopes. “She wants to play 2-3 years more safely, but she hasn’t set any dates either. Another thing is that she will then see if she can play 2-3 more years, but now she herself thinks long term. She is 32 years old, she is not that old, in her head is the idea of returning to the elite, of being at the top again fighting for the big titles. We are talking about a very great player, beyond everything she has achieved, for me she is a reference”, she values her new player, with whom she will very soon start working on the court.
GO FOR THE PROMISED LAND
With their eyes set on the calendar and, waiting for which tournaments they will be invited to the main draw, both will travel in the coming days to Bucharest, where a kind of mini-preseason will begin to recover sensations on the court, both physical and tennis. From there we will see how things go for the former world number 1, what is clear is that her intention is to continue aiming as high as possible, that is, participation in events such as Madrid, Rome and, of course, Roland Garros.
“I still see her as very competitive, with a lot of character, she is a very winning person,” Carlos assumes before taking a flight to Romania next week. “I think this is what I like most about her, how much of a winner she is. A project like this is always worth it, a player who runs, who defends, who gives her all… I love this player profile. Simona is a warrior, I hope things stick and things go well for us because, both she and I, face it with great enthusiasm,” concludes the coach.
2024-03-21 10:48:35
#Interview #Carlos #Martínez #Simona #Haleps #coach
