When Simona Halep finally clinched the match point as Angelique Kerber sent one long, the top seed immediately pointed to her head. It was a pose reminiscent of Stan Wawrinka, and the message was clear – her head was in the game. After fighting from a set down, the Romanian had booked her place in her third French Open semi-final with a 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-2 win.

But this gesture towards her coach Darren Cahill was more than a celebratory pose, it was a sign that this was ‘the new Simo.’

Back in early 2017, temporarily stopped coaching current world No 1 Simona Halep because of her bad attitude in her loss to Johanna Konta in Miami. “It wasn’t because I lost, but because of my attitude and him feeling like I gave up. That’s why I started to work hard on my mentality, and my psychology,” she had told WTA Insider after lifting the trophy in Madrid last year. “Today, I showed it’s a new Simo, that I don’t give up anymore, even if I lose a close second set.”

And sure enough, we have seen a more tenacious Halep at play over the last year, despite the glaring hole of two Grand Slam runner-up trophies in the space of eight months. In the same period, her consistency has seen the Romanian claimed the world No 1 spot, even without a Slam.

Halep’s mental edge has often been questioned – especially after she lost the finals of the French Open last year and Australian Open this year – even as her supreme fitness and physicality have been big weapons. Despite her many triumphs, Halep seems to need extra effort to win a game with both her mind and body together.

And she admitted that even in her quarter-final clash with Kerber on Wednesday, it was her mental game that finally gave her the edge. Or as she said after the win: “My head won it”

“It was really about the mental. And also physical, for sure, but mental I was strong. After losing that set, when I came back, it was a little bit tough, but I stayed there. I stayed focused. I never gave up. So I think that’s why I won today,” she told the media.

It wasn’t an easy win till Kerber needed a medical timeout in the third set. But by then, the new version of Halep had shown up.

Fight-back win

The last time Halep and Kerber met was in the Australian Open semi-finals which went down as a marathon that the Romanian won 9-7 in the decider. Another marathon was expected, with longer rallies of the traditional clay-court game.

However, the match looked increasingly lopsided to start with as Kerber sent down some stunning winners while Halep fudged simple shots and found the net more often than winners.

The struggling Romanian was broken in very first game and as the unforced errors count kept mounting, she was down a double break at 0-4.

Staring at a bagel, Halep turned the tide with a lot more attacking, assertive tennis. This could have been the turning point of the match, but for a messed up tiebreak.

After a love hold, she snatched triple break points to find her feet at 3-4. Serving to stay in the set at one point, Halep now broke Kerber serving for the set and forced a tiebreak.

But to keep the drama going, Halep’s error-strewn version showed up briefly and she surrendered the first set rather tamely. The tiebreak may have been one-sided, but the long rallies, Kerber’s thunderous groundstrokes and Halep’s gritty defense made it an entertaining first set that lasted for an hour. The number that defined it was the top seed’s 30 unforced errors, six of which came in the tiebreak.

This was when the Halep could have gone into a shell, but as she has so often shown in both wins and losses, she will fight it out till the decider, keep running till someone is out of gas. On Wednesday, the second set was when Simona 2.0 came out and played a match that Cahill would be proud of. She won 85% of her first serve points and faced only one break opportunity.

The new Halep?

Halep broke Kerber in the very first game and then managed a strong hold to go 2-0 up. In a reversal of roles, the German began making more errors while Halep found the lines correctly. The momentum began to shift and the Romanian kept pressing all the advantage she got off Kerber’s free points even as she moved across and up-and-down the court to gather points.

It got tougher when Halep failed to convert breakpoints in consecutive return games. This could have turned either way again, but then came a moment of brilliance as she scored a stunning, almost no-look volley to get a decisive break and lead 5-3. Kerber, serving to stay in the set, obliged with not one but two double faults to give Halep the set.

The third set saw early breaks being traded as Kerber pulled back after being 0-2 down. But a medical timeout for her left foot meant the intensity and momentum was lost.

The German tried her best, keeping the points short and trying to hold fort. But Halep could smell victory and she marched on.

The world No 1 faces a tougher battle next, the 2016 champion Garbine Muguruza who made light work of Maria Sharapova and has floated through to the last four in Paris. The clash for a place in the final will also be a clash for the right to be called the new No 1.

If Halep is to cross this hurdle though, she will need to start get her head in the game a lot faster than she did in the quarters. A mentally psyched and a physically charged up Halep can make another French Open final if both her mind and body come together from the very first game.