Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep suffered a midfield panic during her stunning second-round defeat at Roland-Garros.
Halep, the 2018 winner in Paris, was forced to call the coach, who is playing his second Grand Slam tournament, after having difficulty breathing during a 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 loss to Chinese teenager Zheng Qinwein.
Zheng has won 11 of the last 12 games and advanced to the third round of the Grand Slam for the first time.
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Halep admitted after the match that he “didn’t know how to handle” the panic attack.
“I probably put too much pressure on myself because I really wanted to do better,” he said later. “I felt good. I practiced. I worked hard. But it didn’t happen, and maybe I was a little scared. [the match] Thinking, thinking extra
“But I was leading, so there’s no reason, in particular, why it happened. But it happened, so I have to accept it. It’s something that is normal for everyone.”
Halep said he had never had a panic attack before.
“I didn’t feel well during the match,” he said. “If I had felt better, I would have started playing a little better. No, I couldn’t. So I said at the beginning that I couldn’t handle it, and I don’t have many words about it. I just accept it, and I do it. I accept. “
Zheng will now play Frenchwoman Alice Cornet, who is set to reach the career-best quarter-finals at the Australian Open.
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