Halep restarts her 2020 season the way she left it

Simona Halep was understandably thrilled to be back on court, but she put her fans through a roller coaster of a first match. On Tuesday in Prague, the top seed fought past Polona Hercog, 6-1, 1-6, 7-6 (3).

As her coach Darren Cahill pointed out, Halep hadn't competed since February.

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Welcome back Simo... Last match played on 22nd Feb was 7/6 in the 3rd. 6 months later and still fighting hard. Great effort by you and Arti 👊 @Simona_Halep https://t.co/NdNRgrlyVV
— Darren Cahill (@darren_cahill) August 11, 2020

That last match was also a third-set tiebreak win, over Elena Rybakina in the Dubai final. It's just not the on-court action that Halep has been missing.

Missed these busy days on site ❤️🎾 pic.twitter.com/kFY9u6V4r8
— Simona Halep (@Simona_Halep) August 9, 2020

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Practicing on site, seeing fellow players, the media attention and the hustle of life on the road have all been lacking in her life since the tour shut down in March.

Halep, currently ranked No. 2. will face Barbora Krejcíkova on Thursday.

Check out the latest episode of the TENNIS.com Podcast with Genie Bouchard:

Halep restarts her 2020 season the way she left it

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