Athlete of the Week on RRI – Tennis player Simona Halep

Simona Halep has qualified to the US Open quarterfinals

Steliu Lambru, 06.09.2016, 13:26

The US Open is underway in Flushing Meadows. The last Grand Slam tournament of the year is due to end this Sunday. Only one Romanian player is left in the womens singles: the worlds no. 5 player Simona Halep. For managing to reach the quarterfinals, we have designated her Athlete of the Week on RRI.

Simona Halep played Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium, ranked 56 in WTA standings, in the first preliminary round, winning 6-0, 6-2. In the second round, Halep knocked out Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic, 44th WTA, 6-3, 6-4. In the third round Halep edged out Timea Babos, 34th WTA, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4. In the round of last 16, played on Monday, Simona Halep also brushed aside Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain, ranked 12th in WTA standings, 6-2, 7-5. In the quarterfinals, Halep will take on the worlds no. 1 player, Serena Williams of the USA.

At the end of the match against Carla Suarez Navarro, Simona Halep said the win was very special to her. “I am very happy I won this game. Its always difficult to win against Carla, I gave everything I had. The next round will be extremely difficult and I want to celebrate this success, Halep said.

Simonas best performance at the US Open was the semi-finals played in 2014. In 2016 she has so far won 3 tournaments, in Madrid, Bucharest and Montreal. Halep also played in the Wimbledon quarterfinals and the Cincinnati semi-finals.

Halep has only one win in seven matches against Serena Williams. Simona defeated Williams on October 22, 2014 at the WTA Finals in Singapore, a clear 6-0, 6-2 win. This year, the two were also pitted against each other at the Indian Wells tournament, where the American won 6-4, 6-3. Williams has won the US Open six times. Last year, both Halep and Williams were knocked out in the tournaments semi-finals by Flavia Pennetta and Roberta Vinci of Italy respectively.

(Translated by V. Palcu)