The Romanian was a No. 1 who’d never won a major—until 2018. Gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci shares the joy of seeing Halep finally win, and what it means to their nation.
Whenever my schedule allows, I try to sneak a couple of days to go and see Simona play. This year I wanted to be in Paris. Every Romanian on the planet wanted to be there, to see Simona win that title she wanted for a long time. She missed it the first time at the 2014 French Open final. And she missed it last year; I was there. I almost pulled the Romanian flag out because she was up 3-0 in the second set and I thought, “She’s got this.” And it just didn’t happen.
This story is from the December 2018/January 2019 edition of ESPN The Magazine.
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This story is from the December 2018/January 2019 edition of ESPN The Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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