Halep admits to being 'unprofessional' in her defeat by Hsieh
LONDON, UK - Top seed Simona Halep praised the unpredictability of her conqueror Hsieh Su-Wei's game after crashing out of Wimbledon - but criticized herself for being 'unprofessional'.
"She played really well. She stayed there for every point. All the credit to her," the Romanian told reporters after the match.
"Actually it was okay as a game. I just believe that I was not very positive on court. The match was very unprofessional for me. But I am too tired. I was too tired. I have pain everywhere.
"I will not find the excuses about this match, she deserved to win, but still I'm sad about myself today."
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The World No.1 had taken the first set 6-3 before losing the next two 4-6, 5-7. Prior to that match, she had not dropped a set in the previous two rounds.
When asked to elaborate on why she was so disappointed in her performance, the French Open champion refused to attribute it to her run to the title in Roland Garros.
"Definitely I gave everything I had on the game side. I was fighting till the end for every ball," she explained.
"I just was too negative to myself, talking too much. I think because I was tired, because I'm tired, I couldn't stay focused for every ball.
"I was leading the match, I was up, and I couldn't finish it. I'm not hard. I'm just realistic and honest with myself. I accept that it was an unprofessional attitude from me today."
Hsieh, meanwhile, was unsurprisingly relaxed and happy after securing her place in the fourth round; in the past 18 months she has beaten both Garbiñe Muguruza and Agnieszka Radwanska at the Australian Open, Johanna Konta at the French Open, and now Halep at Wimbledon.
"I don't learn how to be giant killer," said the World No.48. "I just want to feel free and enjoy the match. You know anything can happen on the court. You don't have big chance to win, because they're very good. So all I want to do is just go on the court and hit the shot and run every point - and enjoy it."
