Why it’s easy to support Oana Simion!

Whilst my love of tennis extends back to Pete Sampras and Justin Henin, then later of course Roger Federer and Simona Halep, the latter opening me up to the world of Romanian tennis stars, one player has influenced and inspired me personally more than any other, Romania’s Oana Simion.

Before the Covid wave flooded the world, Squash was my sport and tennis was my passion, yet I would only play tennis socially in the summer. With the covid restrictions in place tennis became one of the few sports where it was safe to play, as social distancing could be maintained under a series of additional rules. I found I played tennis more and more and joined my local club Almondsbury and Bradley Stoke Tennis Club for the first time, I played in the box leagues and furthermore joined a second club at Herbert Gardens in Clevedon so I could have access to grass court tennis in the summer too. Sadly, I never really rekindled my love for squash when the covid curtain lifted, I found I could not reach the level I was at before the restrictions and furthermore as I was regularly playing tennis too I was getting injured a lot playing both, I had to let squash go which was a bit of a blow as it was enjoyable and very social as I ran the local squash boxes and was quite involved with the committee too. But I committed to tennis and enjoyed playing more and more, especially doubles, I never really understood what to do with doubles, I thought you had to stay at net all the match, I did not realise you could move around, as I played more, it made more sense and then helped to develop my singles game, especially volleys and smashes.

Through my admiration of Romania’s Simona Halep, who had soon become my favourite WTA player I found the more I learnt about her I was entering a whole new world of Romanian tennis, I started supporting a few other Romanian players just because they were Romanian like Simona. I stumbled across the Instagram Page, WTA Romania, created by the late Phil Boosey from America, it was incredible, a labour of love and so much information about all the players. I got to messaging him regularly, we both shared that same connection about supporting all the Romanian players because of Simona Halep, it was interesting that I was not the only non-Romanian fan who felt that way. Through Phil’s page my knowledge of Simona’s contemporaries grew and I discovered Oana Simion. What fascinated me at first about Oana was the blog she wrote ‘Court Chronicles by Oana Simion’ (I have written about this blog elsewhere on this site and there is a link) it was incredible, the narrative was beautiful for one, she had a real gift and passion for writing but the accounts of life on tour were so thought provoking, she left no stone unturned and was not afraid to be honest with all of her feelings and emotions, she was not afraid to challenge practices or point to inadequacies, she was telling the true stories about life as a professional tennis player and it was not all a bed of roses. I was an instant fan. I initially interacted with her, praising her for her work and she was so enthusiastically kind and appreciative in her response. I once playfully called her a Wolf, she said that she liked that nickname and now everyone is calling her it.

When I went to Romania for the first time, Cluj 2024, excited about the prospect of watching one of my favourite players, Miriam Bulgaru, live for the first time, I found myself telling Oana all about it and how sad I was when Miriam withdrew with illness. Through the following year I watched Oana’s matches online whenever I could and followed her results and stats all the time, I gave her support every week, advice and encouragement. She also helped me personally, there were a few dark spells in my life where I struggled in with depression and anxiety, she encouraged me to fight though them, she gave me advice on my tennis and my fitness, diet in general.

Over the next year, I went to Romania a few more times, predominantly to support Miriam, i had also watched her at other tournaments too such as the French Open and Wimbledon qualifying, I was becoming quite the fan, I was lucky enough to watch her win the WTA 125 at home in Bucharest, I used my last day of annual leave for that and went just for the weekend, that was such a special weekend. I had never watched Oana play though, and I was starting to become conscious of that. I promised her a live tournament and to bring her the same success I delivered to Miriam in Bucharest. Brasov was chosen as it is a part of Romania I have always longed to visit.

This year, 2025, I had fallen very ill, physically and mentally. Struggling and waiting for test results from the doctor I decided to go to Wiesbaden in Germany to watch Miriam, reasoning the sunshine would do me good, incredibly unwise as I could barely walk at the time. The trip only lasted a few days before I got very sick and had to return home to the UK and go straight to hospital. But for one happy day I watched Miriam win, had a lovely catch up with her and her coach and met Gabi Lee, my other favourite player and had the most delightful chat with her too. It was amazing, then I checked my phone and saw that Oana had lost in Holland in the first round. I felt terrible, I messaged her to ask her if she was okay and she said she felt so alone. That’s the two sides to life as a tennis player right there. Oana is so selfless, not just with her support about my personal issues but she cares deeply about so many others, especially the younger tennis players, she will help and support any of them. It’s easy to forget she is on her own tough journey too and reminders like this are like a brick to the chest. I remember prior to the trip excitedly telling her I was going to Wiesbaden, she even said ‘Why don’t you come to Holland and watch me?’ I know this was a light-hearted comment but it did make me feel a little guilty, probably made worse by how sick I was anyway.

Thankfully by the time Brasov arrived in August I was in much better health, I travelled to Brasov via Bucharest with a friend and Positivity Penguin, who always comes with me to tennis trips. As often the case at the ITF level, Oana was travelling alone, without a coach and a support team. In something of a cost saving exercise we travelled to Brasov via Bucharest on the train, and met Oana at the station, she was with her father, a very charming man and incredibly friendly despite the language barrier.

Oana became the perfect host when we arrived at Brasov, which was incredible as it was a new town for us and very beautiful. The tournament, a W35 was very exciting and Oana was one of many talented Romanians competing. During the week we supported her singles and doubles. Oana was so accommodating to my friend and I, we dined out a few times and Positivity Penguin and I would help Oana during her practice sessions and sit courtside during all her singles and doubles matches. In the second round, her parents had made the trip to support their daughter and I watched Oana’s match against the talented young Romanian Ilinca Amariei, along with Oana’s mother. Sadly it was a bad day at the office for Oana, she missed a few shots at the net and as often happens this affects your confidence and lingers in the mind, she could not get the misses out of her head and crumbled on nearly all the other approach shots. I always message words of consolation to my favourite players whenever they lose because I know it’s such a dark lonely place, it’s harder when you are actually there. However, we talked about it later and she let the shadows pass, she still had doubles to play in. Her doubles partner was Sapfo Sakellaridi from Greece, you may remember her from an earlier match text commentary on this website where she played Gabi Lee, I had only just forgiven her for winning that! But joking aside, she was a lovely person and so was her mother and her coach, who I sat with during all the doubles matches. We made it to the semi finals which was difficult for me as Oana and Sapfo were playing Stefi Bojica and Briana Szabo, two young Romanian players I am very fond of, I have supported Stefi in particular for a long time and spent most of the week with her mother watching her matches in singles and doubles. Stefi and Briana were victorious and went on to win the tournament. On the Friday night we had a final meal with Oana and said goodbye to her, it was actually a very sad moment. As a tennis fan I have gone to tournaments over the years, often with some of my favourite players playing but you watch from a far, round by round, you just watch tennis, drink coffee and eat strawberries, in Brasov I had spent time with Oana, and a few other of the players and their support teams, and every day it feels more and more empty, truth be told with no Romanians in the singles finals we actually elected to return to Bucharest a day earlier. But one thing was for certain, my week in Brasov was so special, I loved everything about it; supporting an ITF event, seeing many talented young Romanian players playing for the first time, the town, the vibes, the people, everything was wonderful. I had an excited expectation of Brasov but I really feel it was better than I could have imagined. But above all, I kept my promise to Wolfy to watch her live at a tournament, supporting her in her matches was a pleasure and honour and spending time with her on and off court was incredible. She is an amazing person. I adored Brasov, I wanted to go back again as soon as I left. In my personal life, although still not 100 per cent, I was definitely getting better, I had a new job, I was feeling healthier and happier and it was the perfect trip. I had no idea when I said goodbye to Oana I would see her again quite so soon in the future… TBC