Athlete of the Week: tennis player Monica Niculescu

Monica Niculescu and Hao-Ching Chan have got through to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in the ladies'doubles

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Florin Orban, 11.07.2017, 12:40

In the ladies’ doubles at Wimbledon, the Romanian-Taiwanese pair made up of Monica Niculescu and Hao-Ching Chan has got through to the quarterfinals. In the tournament’s fourth round 9th-seeds Niculescu and Chan outclassed the Brazilian –Croatian pair made up of Beatriz Haddad Maia and Ana Konjuh, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4. Previously, in the first round, Niculescu and Chang defeated the Romanian Paraguayan pair made up of Raluca Olaru and Veronica Cepede Royg, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. In the second round, Monica Niculescu and Hao-Ching Chan overpowered the Turkish-Thai pair made up of Ipek Soylu and Varatchaya Wongteanchai, 6-3, 6-3.

For Monica Nicuescu, it was the best performance in a double event at Wimbledon. Also, Niculescu has paralleled her career-best so far in a Grand Slam tournament, having reached as far as the quarterfinals in Roland Garros in 2010, and in Melbourne, in 2012. Reason enough for Radio Romania International to designate Monica Niculescu the Athlete of the Week.

Monica Nicuescu was born in the southern Romania ton of Slatina on September 25, 1987. She has been living in Bucharest ever since she was four. Niculescu took up tennis at the age of five and has been a pro since 2002. Her best position so far has been no. 28 in the world, attained in February 2012. In the women’s doubles rankings, she climbed up on the 15th position in August 2016. At the moment, Niculescu ranks 51st according to the women’s singles classification and 25th, in the women’s doubles rankings. So far Niculescu has won 11 WTA tournaments, of which three were in the singles event, while eight were in the doubles event. In April 2017, Niculescu won one single WTA competition, in Switzerland’s Biele in the women’s doubles, pairing up with Taiwan’s Su-Wei Hsieh.