Simona Halep did not receive a wild card for Roland Garros 2024, but is expected to return to the top of the WTA hierarchy. Why? Because she has a solid game on all surfaces, age is still on her side, and with a lot of ambition she can even return somewhere in the world top 20, is the opinion of Mansour Bahrami, one of the most spectacular characters involved in the world of white sports.
Mansour Bahrami: Simona Halep will no longer be the world leader, but she can even return to the WTA top 15
Mansour Bahrami is a constant presence in Paris. He plays in the legends tournament, where he delights the fans with his tricks that you really can’t get enough of, even though they’ve mostly been the same for years.
He is a character who brings with him a lot of good humor. I spotted him at the Porte d’Auteuil complex and asked him to chat for a few minutes about the sport that has made him famous almost everywhere.
I tell him I’m from Romania, and his face lights up: Ilie (n.r. Năstase) is a good friend. He has been to our country several times and feels attached to Romania thanks to the friendship that connects him with the one nicknamed Nasty.
“Simon? Of course, how can we not talk about her, she is a great champion”, Bahrami begins his speech.
“Of course he still has a future in tennis, he was world number one. Now, I’m sure being out of the field for over a year and a half has affected her quite a bit.
But she is a great champion, a very nice person and I think if she works hard then things can go in her favor.
Of course he has a chance, I don’t know if he will ever be number one again, but he has a significant chance to get back into the TOP 20, maybe even TOP 15. I wish him all the best.
If we remember from the past, we have Kim Clijsters as an example. She gave birth, and then came back two and a half years later and won the US Open. Anything is possible, of course” – Mansour Bahrami on Simona Halep’s return to professional tennis after her doping scandal.
Referring to a continuation of Rafael Nadal’s career, Bahrami is no longer as optimistic, but without totally excluding a new “miracle” from the Iberian athlete.
“It will be very difficult for Rafa to come back (n.r. at Roland Garros) and perform at the level at which he has played over time. It’s increasingly difficult when you’re 38 to go back to Grand Slams and play five-set matches.
He is phenomenal, such a great champion, he has surprised us so many times throughout his career, it may be somewhere possible to surprise us once more, but, I repeat, it will be very very difficult” – Mansour Bahrami, about a possible return of Rafael Nadal to Roland Garros, the 2025 edition.
Flavia Pennetta: “I was very happy to see her play again in Miami”
Simona and Flavia met six times in the world circuit, the score being favorable to the athlete from Italy, 4-2. The most important victory for the peninsular came in the semi-final of the 2015 US Open, when Pennetta clearly dominated, score 6-1, 6-3.
In fact, the athlete born in Brindisi would achieve the most important result of her career in New York: winning the US Open.
“What do you want to talk about? Oh, about Simona? Dearly”
“I saw her play in Miami and I was very happy to see her again on the WTA circuit, on the court. I hope she comes back and we can see her at as many matches, tournaments as possible.