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Former world number one Simona Halep says she suffered a panic attack during her second round match with Zheng Qinwen, contributing to her early French Open exit.
The 2018 Roland Garros champion became the latest big name to make a shock departure from Paris inside the first week after blowing a first set lead to lose 2-6 6-2 6-1.
It marked a major scalp for the unseeded Zhang, who previously lost to Halep in January, and was arguably the biggest win of the Chinese teenager’s career at her competition debut.
But Halep, who looked to be in cruise control early on, revealed she suffered an unexpected setback that threw her rhythm in her post-match comments, though she has now recovered.
“I was playing well at the start,” she stated. “I had a break in the second set, but then something happened. I just lost it.
“It was just a panic attack. I didn’t know how to handle it, because I don’t have [them] often. I don’t really know why it happened, because I was leading the match. I was playing well
“After the match, [it] was pretty tough. But now I’m good. I’m recovered, and I will learn from this episode. It’s good that now I can smile.”
On her overall time at Roland Garros, Halep admitted she was happy to come through it unscathed, adding: “Tomorrow is a new day.
“I know it’s like a cliche, but it’s a new day, and I’ll wake up motivated to keep working. [I’ve] no injury, which is really good. Now I’m in a good place.”
