The WTA’s World Number one ranked Simona Halep and her Australian coach Darren Cahill have ended their three year working relationship.
The Adelaide-born former professional player announced the split via social media on Friday.
In the statement, Cahill announced he is parting ways with Halep for family reasons. He added he had put a lot of thought into the decision but in the end decided to take a 12-month break from coaching “to be home more for support as our children enter important stages of their lives with the final year of high school, sports and college preparations all becoming more time consuming.”
Cahill is a father of two kids, daughter Tahlia and son Benjamin. However, since teaming up in November 2015, Halep has enjoyed the most successful period in her career.
She rose to the number one ranking in 2017, and will also end 2018 at the top as well. She ended her long wait for a Grand Slam title, when she won the French Open at Roland Garros earlier this year, after overcoming the challenge of American Sloane Stevens 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Things were not always great between the two, as Cahill left his coaching role briefly last season, citing Halep’s attitude after a loss in Miami to Johanna Konta. Cahill criticised the Romaniani of “giving up” in the encounter.
He returned a month later, and Halep was back to winning ways, with a title triumph in Madrid, and she cited him leaving as a key part in her development process.
Halep thanked Cahill on her Twitter handle for all the effort he had put in shaping her as the player that she had become, a number one in the world to go with being a Grand Slam winner.
She also hoped to work with him in the future again, also adding “Wishing you and your family all the best and I am sure I will see you soon”.
There has been no new news as far as the identity of Halep’s new coach for the new year, while Cahill has said he will continue his work with ESPN as a commentator on the Grand Slams.
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