Former World No 1 Simona Halep has appointed Belgian Thierry Van Cleemput as her new coach new coach after spending the first month of the season solo after her off-season split with Darren Cahill. Van Cleemput was the former coach of David Goffin but the pair split up during the Australian Open.
He was seen with the Romanian during in Melbourne but the pair will formally begin their partnership at the Qatar Open next week, according to WTA Insider. Halep is currently playing the Fed Cup.
The French Open champion had confirmed she began speaking to Van Cleemput for the first time after he split with world No 21 David Goffin mid-tournament following his third-round loss to Daniil Medvedev.
The former world No 1 had endured a tough start to the season after cutting her pre-season short due to injury and suffered a first-round loss in Sydney.
At the Major, she battled through against Kaia Kanepi and Sofia Kenin before beating Venus Williams. But she bowed out in the fourth round after pushing Serena Williams to three tough sets. As the runner-up in 2017, she dropped points and lost her world No 1 ranking as well.
Halep had ended a successful four-year partnership with her former coach as Cahill wanted to spend more time with his family in Australia. The 53-year-old Australian helped the Romanian to her first Grand Slam triumph at Roland Garros in June as well as a year-ending world top spot.
Who is Thierry Van Cleemput?
- He was David Goffin’s coach from 2014 to 2019 during which the Belgian broke into the Top 10 in the ATP ranking and finished as the runner-up in the ATP Finals in 2017.
- He has been a tennis coach since 1993 and previously coached Belgian players such as Olivier Rochus and Steve Darcis.
- He was Belgium’s Davis Cup assistant captain from 2002-2005.