Simona Halep recently started a new chapter of her tennis career. Making a comeback after withdrawing from the 2022 Miami Open, former World No, 1 recently made a major announcement. Halep, who has been switching coaches lately, on 7th April announced Patrick Mouratoglou as her new full-time coach.

Patrick Mouratoglou is known as one of the major contributors to Serena Williams’s career. Since 2012, Patrick guided Serena towards winning three Wimbledon titles, three US Open titles, two French Open titles, and two Australian Open titles. He has been influential in guiding Serena in later parts of her storied career.

Recently, Simona and Patrick announced their pairing up as a player and coach respectively on their social media handles individually. Halep kept the announcement simple saying, “Excited for a new chapter. Let’s get to work Patrick Mouratoglou.” However, that wasn’t the case with Mouratoglou. In his announcement, the French coach opened up about his conversation with Serena, before agreeing to coach Halep.

With the start of the clay-court season, Halep has also started working with Mouratoglou. Lately, a video of the Romanian player has been surfacing on social media. In the video, Halep can be seen playing on one of the clay courts of the Mouratoglou academy. In the 6-second-long video, Halep practices a forehand approach shot, under the eye of Patrick.

DIVE DEEPER: ‘I’m Holding On to It’ – Martina Navratilova Remembers Precious Gift From Chris Evert As She Fights Cancer

Simona Halep on the clay court

Halep has enjoyed a rich vein of success on clay throughout her career and relishes playing on the red dirt.

Halep won her maiden Major at Roland Garros in 2018. She was runner-up in Paris in 2014 and 2017, failing to conquer the final frontier.

In addition to her French Open title, she has also won Masters 1000 titles on clay, winning Madrid Masters in 2016 and 2017 and triumphing in Rome in 2020.

12 years since her first clay-court tournament, Halep has won nine titles on clay so far including her title at the French Open. With her new coach Patrick Mouratoglou by her side, Halep should be hoping to regain her best form in the warm-up tournaments on clay in the lead-up to the French Open.

Watch this story-The Greatest Comebacks in Tennis

The 30-year-old won her last title on clay in 2020. Alongside her newly appointed coach, can Halep win a title on clay this year to end her title drought on the surface?

It remains to be seen how the Simona-Patrick partnership shapes up as she gears up for the European clay-court swing.