Athlete of the week: Simona Halep
On Monday, a Romanian tennis player entered the world top 20, a first in this millennium.
Florin Orban, 27.08.2013, 12:00
Similar performances were reported in the 1990s, when Irina Spirlea was seeded 7th and Ruxandra Dragomir was seeded 19th. On Monday, Simona Halep ranked 19th after last week she had won the WTA tournament in New Haven, Connecticut, the USA with prize money of 690,000 dollars. For that performance, RRI has designated Simona Halep Athlete of the Week.
In New Haven, Halep first defeated Slovak Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 6-1. In the eight finals, she eliminated Spanish Carla Suarez Navarro 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. Then, in the quarter finals, the Romanian tennis player beat Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-1, 7-6. In the semifinals, Halep defeated Danish Caroline Wozniacki, former leader in the world standings, 6-2, 7-5. Simona Halep won the final against Czech Petra Kvitova 6-2, 6-2.
Halep, who had won 14 of her latest 16 matches, got 117,000 dollars and 470 WTA points. She thus confirmed her excellent shape, adding her fourth WTA title to those she had won this year in Nurnberg, Budapest and Hertogenbosch.
Born in the sea port town of Constanta on September 27th 1991, Simona Halep is coached by Adrian Marcu, a former player of the Romanian Davis Cup team.
