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 ro 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.
"Thank you so much @darren_cahill for all your hard work and incredible support over the past four years," she tweeted. "I was lucky to have you and what a journey we had."