Darren Cahill steps down as Simona Halep’s coach after announcing sabbatical

ATP Tour
Darren Cahill and Simona Halep

Simona Halep is looking for a new coach ahead of the 2019 season after Darren Cahill announced he is taking a break from coaching.

Australian Cahill has been part of Halep’s team for four years and during that time the Romanian reached the top spot in the world rankings and also won her maiden Grand Slam this year at Roland Garros.

However, the 53-year-old revealed on Instagram that he is taking a year-long coaching sabbatical.

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

“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 four 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.”

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