Athlete of the Week on RRI – Tennis player Simona Halep

Simona Halep won the Madrid tournament

Florin Orban, 16.05.2017, 13:03

Romanian tennis player Simona Halep won its first WTA tournament in 2017. Halep won the Mutua Madrid Open, a competition organized by Romanian businessman Ion Tiriac and offering 5,4 million dollars in prize money. For her performance, we have designated Simona Halep Athlete of the Week on Radio Romania International.

In Madrid, Halep was seeded third in the main draw. In the first round the Romanian ousted Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic, 6-1, 6-2. In the second round Halep won narrowly against Roberta Vinci of Italy after three sets, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6. The third round pitted Simona Halep against Samantha Stosur of Australia, seeded 16th. The Australian gave Simona a hard time, but eventually the Romanian prevailed, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. In the quarterfinals, Halep knocked out Coco Vandeweghe of the United States in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1. In the semi-finals, Halep went up against Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia, whom she defeated 6-2, 6-3. In the final, Simona won against Kristina Mladenovic of France, seeded 14, 7-5, 6-7, 6-2, after two hours and 44 minutes of playtime.

Simona Halep was born on September 27, 1991 in Constanta. She made her debut in 2006, when she won her first games in the ITF circuit. In 2010 she made it to the world’s top 100 players. 2013 was a remarkable year for her, as Simona won no less than six WTA tournaments. In August 2014 she was seeded 2nd in WTA standings, the highest ranking ever held by a Romanian tennis player. Since then she has been constantly ranked amongst the world’s top 10 players. (Translated by V. Palcu)