World number one Halep and coach split

PARIS: Darren Cahill, the coach of world number one and French Open champion Simona Halep, said Friday he will take a break from tennis in 2019 for family reasons.

The 53-year-old Australian helped Romanian star Halep to a maiden Grand Slam triumph at Roland Garros in June as well as a year-ending world top spot or crown their four-year partnership.

He had previously coached Lleyton Hewitt and Andre Agassi.

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

“I’d like to thank Simona for the last 4 amazing years. Her understanding, personality, work ethic, generosity and professionalism made it a pleasure to stand by her side as her coach. Basically, I had the dream job.” Halep, 27, thanked Cahill for his work.