Athlete of the year 2019
The most accomplished Romanian athlete in 2019
Florin Orban, 27.12.2019, 13:45
The Wimbledon tennis
tournament is arguably the most exquisite competition of the world professional
circuit. Also, it is the world’s oldest
tournament and is played on a lawn court. 140 years on, the tournament has
undergone radical changes, yet quite a few of the initial regulations are still
in place. Today the tournament’s money up for grabs amounts to dozens of
millions of Euros yet the dress code still holds, strictly imposing an almost
white apparel for the participants.
The year 2019
brought Romanian tennis the fist noteworthy win in the singles version of the
Wimbledon tournament. In the final, Simona Halep had no problem over powering
Serena Williams, rated the greatest tennis player of all time. In less than an
hour of play, Halep thrashed Serena, 6-2, 6-2. For most of Romanian sports
lovers, Simona’s victory in Wimbledon is the year’s greatest performance.
Reason enough for Simona Halep to be
designated the Athlete of the year 2019.
In Wimbledon, it was
only Ilie Nastase who reached as far as the finals, as in 1972 he conceded a
hard-fought defeat to US challenger Stan Smith in five sets. Nastase alo played
the final in 1976, when he lost to Björn Borg. Since then, only Virginia Ruzici
had succeeded to play the quarterfinals, in 1978 and 1981.
At the moment,
Simona Halep is WTA number 4 tennis player. She was born on September 26, 1991
in Constanta. Simona turned pro in 2006, when she played her first ITF matches.
In 2010 Halep was one of the world’s top 100 players. In august 2014, Halep was
2nd-placed according to world rankings, the highest position ever
for a tennis player from Romania.
In October 2017 Simona Halep was at the top of
the WTA rankings, and she maintained that position until January 2018. Simona
regained the top position in February the same year, and stayed there until
early 2019, after the Australian Open. Simona Halep was at the top of the WTA
rankings for 64 weeks, all told. She won 19 WTA tournaments, of which two were
Grand Slam events.
