The Athlete of the Week: Tennis player Simona Halep
Simona Halep is Romanias first female tennis player close to becoming world no. 1, but she again missed this chance in Cincinnati.
Florin Orban, 22.08.2017, 12:36
The first official list of computer rankings was published by ATP in 1973. The first world leader was Romanian Ilie Nastase, who remained in top position for 40 weeks, more exactly from August 1973 to June 1974. The first classification for womens competitions was inaugurated in 1975, with Chris Evert of the United States ranking first.
No Romanian female player ever got to the top position in the WTA standings. The closest to ever get there is Simona Halep, who is now ranked 2nd, only 5 points behind world leader Karolina Pliskova. Last week, Halep again missed a shot at the top spot in WTA rankings. She reached the finals of the Cincinnati tournament, but lost categorically to Garbine Muguruza of Spain, 6-1, 6-0.
It was the third time this year that Halep had a chance of claiming the number one position in the womens singles standings. The first time presented itself when she made it to the Roland Garros finals, where she lost to Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia. The second time was in the Wimbledon quarterfinals, where she lost to home favourite Johanna Konta.
Still, qualifying to the Cincinnati final is a feat in itself, the best performance by any Romanian athlete recently, which is why we have designated Simona Halep the Athlete of the Week on Radio Romania International.
Simona Halep was born on September 27, 1991 in Constanta. She made her debut in professional tennis in 2006, when she played her first matches in the ITF circuit. In 2010 she was ranked among the worlds top 100 players. 2013 was an amazing year for Halep, winning six WTA tournaments. In August 2014 she reached 2nd place in the WTA standings, the highest position ever held by a tennis player from Romania. She has been in the top ten ever since.
