Romania’s Simona Halep signs Carlos Martinez Comet as her new coach
Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, recently back on the court after her suspension was lifted, announced the name of her new coach, Carlos Martinez Comet.
This week, Halep lost to Paula Badosa in the first round of the Miami Open, 6-1, 4-6, 3-6, in her first game after her suspension was lifted. She now has to gather a new team to be able to perform professionally.
Simona Halep has been without a coach for some time, after ending her collaboration with Patrick Mouratoglou in the aftermath of the doping scandal. In Miami, Halep was accompanied only by a physical trainer and sparring partner Joao Monteiro.
"I spoke with Carlos Martinez, I will have a period of training, of getting to know each other, so to say, after Miami, when I return to Europe. I hope it goes well, I appreciate him a lot, he has worked with players whom I liked, such as Svetlana Kuznetsova, and I admire his work. I hope we understand each other and I hope to be able to work at the level he desires and to do good work together," Simona Halep said, cited by Digi Sport.
Carlos Martinez Comet, 49, has coached players such as Svetlana Kuznetsova, Daria Kasatkina, Kateryna Kozlova, and Clara Tauson. From the men's circuit, Martinez has coached Marc Lopez and Feliciano Lopez. He also runs a tennis academy called CMC Competition near Barcelona.
Halep started working with Darren Cahill in 2016, and in the first three years of collaboration, she won two Grand Slam tournaments (Roland Garros and Wimbledon) and played in another final.
At the end of 2018, Simona Halep stopped working with Cahill and collaborated with Daniel Dobre, but resumed her relationship with Cahill after a year, in the fall of 2019. After another two years, she once again parted ways with Cahill because the Australian coach needed more time with his family.
This was followed by a new collaboration with Daniel Dobre and Adrian Marcu, after which, in May 2022, Halep began working with Patrick Mouratoglou. Four months later, the doping scandal happened, and in a recent interview, Halep said that she lost her trust in the American, according to Euronews Romania.
(Photo source: Mircea Nicolescu | Dreamstime.com)
