RRI Sports Club – Tennis

Florin Orban, 14.10.2020, 11:19

The updated
rankings list for the WTA circuit has been released to the press this Monday.
Several things are for certain. First, Australia’s Ashleigh Barty will finish
the 2020 season in top position. Despite choosing not to take part in Roland
Garros, Barty was favored by the fact that none of the other players aspiring
to the top position in the standings had had good performance in the Paris Open
in 2019. Another certain fact is that world no. 2, Simona Halep, will get to keep
her ranking until the end of the season. For years, the Romanian player has
been clinging to worldclass tennis, and given her good run this year, we are
confident she may still have a lot to prove. The WTA circuit has one more
masters tournament scheduled for this year, the one in Ostrava, the Czech
Republic, offering $500 thousand in prize money. Finally, the women’s circuit
also includes the tournament in Linz, Austria, with $200 thousand up for grabs,
as well as the Limoges Open in France, with winning standing at $115 thousand.

As it stands,
the WTA ranking shows 2020 has been a god year for Romanian tennis players.
Patricia Țig has had by far the best evolution. She won the trophy in Istanbul
and qualified to the Roland Garros third round, which helped her climb to 57th
place, her career best. Irina Bara has also had a good year, climbing to 116th
place. At Roland Garros she was ousted by Sofia Kenin of the United States, who
reached the final and is now in 4th place. Overall, Romania has six
players in the WTA Top 100: Simona Halep, no. 2, Patricia Țig, no. 57,
Irina-Camelia Begu, no. 76, Sorana Cîrstea, no. 88 and Ana Bogdan, no. 92. In
the women’s doubles standings Romania has three players: Raluca Olaru, no. 41,
Monica Niculescu, no. 53 and Andreea Mitu, no. 91.

(Translated by
V. Palcu)