No Slam, no sweat: Simona Halep not feeling pressure to win French Open

PARIS -- The immediate task facing Simona Halep at this year's French Open ought to be straightforward: Shut out all talk of winning that elusive Grand Slam title. ?

But it's unlikely to be as easy as that.

?The world No. 1 has lost each of her three major finals. A year ago, Halep made the final here at Roland Garros and led Jelena Ostapenko by a set and 3-0 in the second and then 3-1 in the third. But it didn't work out, as Halep tightened up down the stretch.

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Despite the setbacks, Halep, 26, should be confident. She reached the final in Rome, allowing her to hold on to the No. 1 ranking. But until she wins her first Slam, the questions will keep coming. When will you win a major? What's the pressure like? Does it bother you?

You get the picture. So did Caroline Wozniacki, who spent years batting back questions as to whether she thought she would ever win a Slam. And then this year's Australian Open happened, where she beat Halep in a superb final.

? "The biggest difference is really when I'm in here in the press conferences," Wozniacki said when meeting the media before the tournament. "I'm not getting asked anymore [about] what it takes to be a Grand Slam champion; why I haven't gotten there yet."

? Kim Clijsters, another former world No. 1, knows what Halep is going through. She lost her first four major finals, including two at the French Open. The Belgian, though, then went on to win four Slams. ?

"I can compare myself a little bit to Simona," Clijsters told ESPN.com. "I've been in the situation before where you have your demons, when you get to those moments, and as much as people around you can say, 'Oh, just keep hanging in there and one day it will work,' it is always a little bit in your head.

? "It didn't help that after I lost [in Paris] to Jennifer [Capriati, in 2001] and Justine [Henin, in 2003] that after a while, every press conference, people would ask all those same draining questions." ?

Clijsters, who will be working as an analyst for Eurosport in Paris, said Halep has everything she requires to be a Grand Slam champion.

? "Simona knows that she's capable of beating everybody," Clijsters said. "It's that confidence you have to try to keep building on, and have as your base, and then keep working hard and one day hopefully everything will fall into place. It happened with me."? ? ?

Halep claims she didn't look at the draw, beyond the American, Alison Riske, whom she plays in Tuesday in her opener. "Ignoring the elephant in the room" is part of her game plan.??

? "It's not that difficult to do that, because I know that every match is going to be very tough," Halep said.