OP, in congruence with similarly-themed posts, please change the post title to "The Fall Cometh: Simona Halep"
And to answer your question, it sure is looking likely she's suddenly on the downslope of her career. If Rybarikova has a good tourney the rest of the way and a good USO then we'll know Halep just ran into an in-form opponent. If not, it will likely spell her doom :shrug:
I think joking aside that if she flops early at US Open her career will go downside. She seems to be mentally fragile and all this buzz about her and Si-si-simona hysteria will only put additional pressure on her.
If a 2nd round loss means a player is doomed, then every tennis player has no future. Throughout history, EVERY good player loses to someone that's not as good as them on paper. It's just part of the game.
The beginning of the end? I don't think so. But there is something about Simona's game that seems to be missing against the big players. That edge that will allow her to beat them. I wonder how far she'll get at the Open?
The beginning of the end? I don't think so. But there is something about Simona's game that seems to be missing against the big players. That edge that will allow her to beat them. I wonder how far she'll get at the Open?
She lacks a weapon. Sure, her game is well-rounded but there is nothing that sticks out, and would give her, as you said, an edge against top players. Serena and Petra have their serves and powerful ground strokes; Maria with her screams, delays and toilet breaks; Aga with her variety and God-gifted shot making talent or Vika with her smooth offensive and defensive game etc Simona just doesn't have anything like those.