"I did a good job here & I'm looking forward with positive thoughts"- Simona Halep after US Open 4r loss to Elina Svitolina

Simona Halep's campaign at the 2021 US Open was cut short by a confident Elina Svitolina, who beat the Romanian 6-3, 6-3 on Sunday to advance to the quarterfinals.

Halep, who conceded 12 break points and was broken five times, admitted after the match that she suffered from nerves and felt the pressure of the big stage. She also stated, however, that she did a "good job" over the whole week and that she was looking at the positives from her run.

"Yeah, nerves and stress also because I knew it was going to be a tough match," Halep said. "I've been a little bit tired after three good matches here. But when you don't have many matches, you always are a little bit stressed before the match. But overall I think I did a good job here and I'm looking forward with positive thoughts."

Halep then proceeded to explain what went wrong for her against Svitolina. She expressed her regret for rushing through the points, which led to her racking up a slew of unforced errors. The 29-year-old felt she was struggling in some aspects of her game and so couldn't remain consistent enough.

"Too many unforced errors from my side. I think I rushed," Halep said. "I overhit sometimes. She was responding very well. Yeah, I think I rushed a little bit too much. Maybe if I would have let's say a little bit more patience, I think would have been better."

"At this level you need to be a hundred percent with all aspects," she added. "That aspect [consistency] is a little bit struggling from my side, so that's why I was not able to do a better match."

Simona Halep lifted the trophy in Indian Wells in 2015

Simona Halep went on to shed some light on her course of action over the next few days. She revealed that she would first be heading home to Constanta and consulting her doctors about how much more to play this year.

The Romanian sounded unsure of her participation in the WTA 1000 event in Indian Wells, which is slated to take place in October.

"Go home and rest a little bit because I feel good, but the body is used," the World No. 13 said. "I used it a lot this period so I need to calm down. Then I will decide what I play after I see how I feel."

"Normally I go [to Indian Wells]. But, yeah, you never know," she added. "After a long break with injuries, I need just to talk to my doctors again, to my team, and then we'll decide. But normally I go."

"Life is much better with tennis, what tennis gave me"- Simona Halep

Simona Halep ended the 2017 and 2018 seasons ranked no.1 in the world

Along the lines of the ongoing mental health conversation in tennis, Simona Halep was asked whether taking breaks from the sport had helped her mentally. In response, Halep admitted to feeling "burnt mentally" after playing at the highest level for eight years at a stretch.

The two-time Grand Slam champion went on to claim that she gets to reflect on her achievements once she reaches home. Halep further emphasized that her life has been much better with tennis and all the things that she got out of it, so she never thought about the sport in a negative way.

"Of course I felt burned mentally during the years because I played at the highest level every week, every year, like for eight years," Halep said. "But when you go back home, you have time to see what you achieved. The life is much better with tennis, what tennis gave me."

"So I never thought that tennis is something bad in my life," she added. "So I always enjoyed playing. It's my passion. Every time when I go back on court, I feel good, I feel happy. Of course, sometimes I'm frustrated, I'm upset, I'm sad because of how I play or I lose a match. But I only see positives from tennis, what it gives us."