RRI Live!

Listen to Radio Romania International Live

The Athlete of the Year 2017: Tennis player Simona Halep

For her notable performance in 2017, Radio Romania International has designated Simona Halep Athlete of the Year 2017

The Athlete of the Year 2017: Tennis player Simona Halep
The Athlete of the Year 2017: Tennis player Simona Halep

, 04.01.2018, 12:52

The year 2017 saw a premiere for Romanian tennis. For the first time ever, a Romanian woman tennis player stepped onto the first step of the podium according to the world rankings. Her name is Simona Halep, the best woman tennis player Romanian has ever had. For her notable performance Radio Romania has designated Simona Halep Athlete of the Year 2017.



Simona Halep was born on September 27, 1991 in Constanta, southern Romania. Halep made her debut as a pro with her first ITF circuit matches. In 2010, Simona Halep earned a position in the world top 100 players. She amazingly shot to fame in 2013, when she won six WTA tournaments. In August 2014, Simona Halep for the first time ever in her career earned the 2nd-place according to the WTA rankings, at that time the highest possible position for a Romanian athlete. Since then, Simona Halep has maintained her place among the world’s top 10 tennis players in the women’s singles rankings.



2017 did not provide an auspicious start for Simona Halep. She only regained her top shape in April, when she reached the semifinals of the tournament in Stuttgart. Simona braced up and won the following tournament, the one in Madrid in the Premier Mandatory category, where in the final she overpowered France’s Kristina Mladenovic, 7-5, 6-7, 6-2. Her win back then earned Simona Halep 1,200, 000 USD. Then in the final of the Rome tournament, Halep lost to Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, 6-4, 5-7, 6-1. In the quarterfinals of the Roland Garros tournament, Halep took her revenge over Svitolina, defeating her also in three sets, with a crushing 6-nil win in the decisive set. Halep reached the final of the French Open but she sustained a defeat by Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko. Simona had the upper hand in the first set, winning it 6-4, and even had a 3-nil advantage in the second set. However, Ostapenko came from behind and eventually grabbed a 6-3 win. Halep thus wasted the opportunity to win her first Grand Slam tournament, as well as the opportunity to step onto the first step of the podium according to the world rankings.



In Cincinnati, Ohio, in August 2017, Simona Halep yet again missed the chance to become the world’s number one player. Halep managed to reach the final in Cincinatti, where she was defeated by Spaniard challenger Garbine Muguruzza, 6-1, 6-nil.



However, in October 2017, Simona Halep was unstoppable in her fight for the top position in the WTA rankings. The momentum of Simona Halep’s blazing trail was the Beijing tournament, where she made it to the final. In fact, two matches provided a crucial contribution to Simona Halep’s scintillating run in 2017. First came her round-of-16 win in the game against Russi’as Maria Sharapova, 6-2, 6-2. It was Halep’s first ever win against her Russian challenger, in the wake of seven defeats in a row. What mattered a lot was the semifinal fixture against Jelena Ostapenko, a match she won 6-2, 6-4, actually a revenge for Halep’s defeat by Ostapenko in the Roland Garros tournament in the summer. However, in the Beijing tournament Halep sustained a 4-6, 6-7 defeat by French challenger Caroline Garcia, but that mattered little for Simona Halep’s claiming the top position in WTA standings.



Under the circumstances, Simona Halep was favorite to winning the 2017 WTA Finals, the women’s tennis tournament held in Singapore, the last major competition of the professional schedule. Halep had a good early start in the group stage, with a two-set win against French opponent Caroline Garcia, 6-4, 6-2. Yet Halep sustained two defeats, by Danish opponent Caroline Wozniacki, nil-6, and 2-6, and by Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, 3-6, 4-6, so Simona Halep failed to make it to the semi-finals in Singapore.

Tags:
Sports Roundup
Sport Friday, 22 November 2024

Sports weekend

Romania’s men’s handball team Dinamo Bucharest on Thursday sustained a 29-38 away defeat by German opponents Fuchse Berlin, in a fixture counting...

Sports weekend
Photo: pixabay.com
Sport Thursday, 21 November 2024

Sports Flash

The Romanian national football team was awarded a 3-0 win by default from UEFA in the match against Kosovo. The announcement came on Wednesday after...

Sports Flash
Photo: pixabay.com
Sport Wednesday, 20 November 2024

Radio Romania International Sports club

Matches counting towards the final round as part of this year’s edition of the Champions League in women’s handball were played late last week....

Radio Romania International Sports club
Photo: pixabay.com
Sport Tuesday, 19 November 2024

Athlete of the Week – Footballer Florin Niţă

The Romanian national football team concluded its campaign in Nations League this year with a win. On Monday, in front a 45-thousand-strong crowd on...

Athlete of the Week – Footballer Florin Niţă
Sport Monday, 18 November 2024

Sports roundup

Romania’s national rugby team on Saturday grabbed their second consecutive win this fall. In a test-match hosted by the Triumphant Arch stadium in...

Sports roundup
Sport Tuesday, 12 November 2024

Olympic Profiles 2024

At the Olympics in Paris Romania’s rowers claimed the first gold medals after a break of 32 years. The last rowers to step onto the first step of...

Olympic Profiles 2024
Sport Monday, 11 November 2024

2024 Olympic Profiles

  Before the Olympic Games in Paris, David Popovici was the athlete on whom the vast majority of Romanians’ hopes were pinned. And he did not...

2024 Olympic Profiles
Sport Friday, 08 November 2024

Sports weekend

Romanian football team FCSB has succeeded yet another win in UEFA Europa League. On Thursday, holders FCSB grabbed a 2-nil home win against Danish...

Sports weekend

Partners

Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român
Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS
Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online
Institului European din România Institului European din România
Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti
Muzeul Național de Artă al României Muzeul Național de Artă al României
Le petit Journal Le petit Journal
Radio Prague International Radio Prague International
Muzeul Național de Istorie a României Muzeul Național de Istorie a României
ARCUB ARCUB
Radio Canada International Radio Canada International
Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti” Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti”
SWI swissinfo.ch SWI swissinfo.ch
UBB Radio ONLINE UBB Radio ONLINE
Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl
creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti
italradio italradio
Institutul Confucius Institutul Confucius
BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți

Affiliates

Euranet Plus Euranet Plus
AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters
Digital Radio Mondiale Digital Radio Mondiale
News and current affairs from Germany and around the world News and current affairs from Germany and around the world
Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona

Providers

RADIOCOM RADIOCOM
Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company