World No 1 Simona Halep's Australian coach Darren Cahill steps down from role due to 'family reasons'

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. [caption id=“attachment_5528791” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Romania’s Simona Halep celebrates with her coach Darren Cahill after winning the French Open final against Sloane Stephens. Reuters[/caption] 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 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.”