Tennis: Darren Cahill informs Simona Halep their partnership is over for family reasons

Romanian tennis player, Simona Halep, 1^st WTA, received on Friday unexpected news, as Coach Darren Cahill has decided to put an end to their partnership in 2019 for family reasons.

In a post on Instagram, Darren Cahill wrote:

“I would like to announce that Simona and I will not be continuing our partnership in 2019 purely for family reasons on my part.

After much thought and discussion, and many years with 30 plus weeks on the road away from my family, I’ve 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..

I’d like to thank Simona for the last 4 amazing years. Her understanding, personality, work ethic, generosity and professionalism made it a pleasure to stand by her side as her coach. She’s a young woman of total class and someone I respect greatly which is something more important than any result achieved..

Basically, I had the dream job and I want to thank her for making it that way, and the opportunity to work with someone so talented and dedicated..

I wish Simo and her team nothing but continued success and I look forward to supporting her from the sidelines next year..

A special mention to Theo Cercel, Andrei Cristofor and Virginia Ruzici for all of the support, belief, friendship and great work through the years..

And finally, to the Romanian fans that show unwavering passion and support for their girl. You guys rock, seriously. Thanks for adopting this Aussie as one of your own for the last 4 years and making me feel welcome in your country. Mulțumesc ❤️.

I will continue to work with the ESPN team at the AO, Wimbledon & US Open tournaments in 2019. Cheers, Darren”

Simona Halep has replied on the same social network:

“Thank you so much for all your hard work and incredible support over the past four years. I was lucky to have you and what a journey we had. Wishing you and your family nothing but the best and I’m sure I’ll see you soon!”

Simona Halep and Darren Cahill started collaboration in early 2015, Cahill becoming official coach in the summer of 2015. Previously, Halep had worked with Cahill within the Adidas development programme for young players. The two have had several tensioned moments during the time, but have succeeded in overcoming them every time. The last time they had a tensioned moment was in the summer of 2018 in Cincinnatti.

File photo