Watching helicopters land might sound like strange preparation for the biggest match of your life, but it worked a treat for Simona Halep.
The Wimbledon champion reveals the unusual way she spent the build-up to what became one of the greatest Centre Court performances of modern times, her spectacular demolition of Serena Williams in the 2019 final.
Eschewing a smart private house in nearby Wimbledon village, the 29-year-old Romanian opted to spend the tournament in a hotel next door to Battersea's heliport.
Simon Halep played an astonishing match in the 2019 Wimbledon final to beat Serena Williams
Halep unusually stayed at a hotel in Battersea before her stunning 56-minute win in SW19
'I wasn't that nervous, even though I am a nervous person and I was very relaxed that morning,' she recalled.
'I spent a long time just looking out of the window at the helicopters landing at the heliport. It's strange, but it cleared my mind and helped me forget about what was coming.
'I played the perfect match. I had faced Serena in Singapore, where I played fast and didn't give her the time to settle, so I knew if I did that I had a chance.
'I felt more excited than nervous and I had my family there. It was the most beautiful day of my life.'
Halep had not been back to Wimbledon until she arrived on Monday evening and feared she might not make it at all when a pulled calf muscle forced her out of the French Open. She expects to defend her title next week, but will be short on matches.
The field will be richer for the presence of a substantial personality within the women's game, a relatively late developer with an interesting background.
Halep became the first high-profile tennis player to take a Covid-19 vaccine back in February
In February she became the first prominent tennis player to take the Covid vaccine, which she deliberately made public.
Hailing from the coastal city of Constanta, Halep's heritage is Aromanian, one of the many ethnic groups around the Balkans.
From early in her career, she has enjoyed the mentorship of Gheorghe Hagi, the country's greatest footballer ever and a fellow Aromanian.
She is not like some female tennis players in having been a teenage prodigy and it was not until her early 20s that she began to seriously scale the rankings.
A key to her development was her father Stere remembering how his footballing ambitions had been stifled at semi-professional level.
'He loved football and played a bit, but his parents would not let him play professionally,' she said.
Halep has benefited from having Romanian football legend Gheorghe Hagi as a mentor
'My brother was playing tennis, which is how I started in Constanta. It has beaches, it is a nice city, but during the winter there is not much action; it's a bit cold with no visitors.
'At 16 it was decided I should move to Bucharest for my tennis where there were more coaches and better partners to practise with.'
Progress was steady rather than spectacular and she volunteers that a breast reduction operation she had was a factor.
'In 2009 I had the surgery which I had to have done for my tennis. Then after that, in 2010, I was not very confident in my game, my attitude was too negative and I didn't believe I could get to the top.
'So I had to have a lot of experiences before I believed I could beat top players. I needed time to get the feeling that I'm good enough.
'It really changed at Rome in the Italian Open of 2013, where I reached the semi-final and started to believe.'
Halep became world No 1 in 2017 - but a first major title was still out of the right-hander's reach
Hagi, 56, a revered figure in Halep's homeland, has
