Tennis Player Simona Halep
The winners list in the singles event at the Roland Garros French tennis tournament have along the years included Romanian names
Florin Orban, 13.06.2017, 13:29
We recall that in 1973 Ilie Nastase won the tournament after a blazing win-all, trail. In the finals, Nastase outperformed Yugoslav challenger Nicola Pilic, 6-3, 6-3, 6-0.
In 1978 it was Virginia Ruzic’s turn to be triumphant in Roland Garros, as she outclassed yet another Yugoslav contender, Mima Jaušovec, 6-2, 6-2. For a moment we thought 2017 would be the year of a fresh Romanian win but it wasn’t meant to be. Simona Halep conceded defeat in the finals to WTA 47th-ranked, Latvian challenger Jelena Ostapenko.
The Romanian had an auspicious start for the match and won the first set, 6-4, also securing a 3-nil lead in the second set. However, Ostapenko came from behind and won the second set, 6-4. In the crucial set, Halep also had the upper hand, yet the Latvian overpowered the Romanian and won the third set, 6-3.
In the wake of her run in Roland Garros, the Romanian has climbed up to the second position in the WTA rankings, reason enough for Radio Romania International to designate her the Athlete of the Week.
Simona Halep was born on September 27, 1991 in Constanţa. She made her debut as a professional in 2006, when she played her first ITF circuit games. In 2010 she earned a position among the world’s top 100 players. She had an amazingly blazing trail in 2013, when she won six WTA tournaments.
In August 2014 for the first time ever in her career, Halep was 2nd placed according to the WTA rankings, the highest position ever for a Romanian athlete. Ever since, Halep has maintained her place among the world’s top 10 tennis players in the women’s singles.
In 2017 she won the Madrid tournament and played the final in Rome. In 2017 Simona Halep won prizes worth 2,921,122 dollars overall, more than any other tennis player from around the world.
