The athlete of the week

Simona Halep, winner of the Wimbledon tennis tournament

Florin Orban, 16.07.2019, 14:10

The Wimbledon s tournament is undoubtedly the most
exclusive tournament of professional tennis at world level. In effect, it is
the world’s oldest such tournament and the only Grand Slam event played on
grass courts. The debut edition of the tournament was held in 1877. It was a
men’s tennis tournament and the winner back then was a one Spencer Gore. There
were around 200 tennis lovers attending and each of them paid a shilling. 140
years have passed since the debut edition and the tournament has been going
through a series of groundbreaking changes, yet many of the points in the
original rules system have been kept in place. All told, prize money amounts to
tens of millions of Euros today, yet the dress code on court is still strict, and
competitors will have to dress mainly in white.

In 2019, as an absolute first, a tennis player from Romania
won the Wimbledon trophy in the ladies’ singles. Simona Halep had no problem
overpowering American challenger Serena Williams, rated as the greatest tennis
player of all time. Simona literally thrashed Serena, 6-2, 6-2. We recall that
another Romanian, Ilie Nastase, was a whisker away from winning the tournament,
yet in the tournament’s 1972 final Nastase conceded a five-set, hard-fought
defeat to Stan Smith. Ilie Nastase was also defeated in the 1976 final by
Bjorn Borg. Ever since, it was only Virginia Ruzici, who advanced to
tournament’s quarterfinals, in 1978 and 1981.

After her great win on a lawn court in England, Radio
Romania International has designated Simona Halep the Athlete of the Week.
Simona Halep was born on September 27, 1991, in Constanta. She made her debut
in professional tennis in 2006, when she played her first ITF matches. In 2010,
Halep earned a place among the world’s top 100 players. In August 2014, Simona
was 2nd-placed in the WTA standings for the first time ever in her
career. It was the highest such position for a woman tennis player from Romania. In
October 2017, Simona Halep was at the top of the WTA rankings until January
2018. In February 2018, Simona reclaimed her position at the top of the table
at world level and stayed there until early 2019, after the Australian Open.
Simona Halep was at the top of the WTA hierarchy for 64 weeks. Until last week,
Simona ‘s career included 18 WTA tournaments won, of which one was a Grand Slam
event, the 2018 edition of the Roland Garros tournament. At present, Simona
Halep is 4th- placed according to the WTA rankings.