Romanian tennis player Simona Halep last Saturday won the 20th title of her careerr
Simona Halep won the Dubai tournament on Saturday after a break of 5 years. The 28-year-old player prevailed at the end of a drama-packed 2-hour-and-a-half final against the young and talented Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan. Simona defeated Rybakina after last autumn in Wuhan Halep was forced to withdraw in a direct encounter with the Kazakhstani player. "It's very special to win my 20th title here at the 20th edition of the Dubai tournament in 2020. I will enjoy it, it's a very beautiful moment", Simona said, adding "I feel extraordinary for being able to win. It was amazing. Rykabina fought to the very end, she didn't give up any points. It was very challenging mentally, the pressure piled up, but I really wanted to win, so I gave it all to the very end". Halep praised her opponent, whom many see as Maria Sharapova's successor in the WTA circuit.
"She's very strong. Her serve is powerful, she's tall and robust. I think she will soon enter the top 10", Halep described Rybakina. The former world no. 1, currently world no. 2, has won her first title this year. Halep just entered the 318th consecutive week in the top 10 players, which makes her the 10th player in the world history to do so. The figures may be boring, but they are key to understanding one of the greatest athlete in the history of Romanian tennis, if not sports as a whole. This is all the more important as Romania is struggling with achieving excellence in the field of sports, facing severe underfunding. With 20 titles won so far, Simona Halep has matched the performance of Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, and is ranked 6th in the standings of players who are still active, after Serena and Venus Williams, Kim Clujsters, Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova. "I've had many good results in the last 6-7 years. I've always ranked in the top 5 or top 10, which isn't easy. I'm proud of my achievements, and these tournaments are a confidence boost for me, confirming I'm still able to play at top level", Halep went on to say.
Simona Halep won her first WTA tournaments 7 years ago, in Nurnberg, 's-Hertogenbosch, Budapest, New Haven, Moscow and Sofia. At the same time she won the Doha, Bucharest, Shenzhen, Dubai, Indian Wells, Madrid and Montreal tournaments. She won two Grand Slam tournaments, in Roland Garros in 2018 and in Wimbledon last year, after a historic final against tennis legend Serena Williams. The Romanian also played an Australian Open final in 2018. So far Halep lost 17 finals, and it would be naïve to dwell on this statistic. On the contrary, it goes to say that Halep has been a constant achiever in tennis. Last but not least, Halep has had major contributions to Romania's wins in the Fed Cup, and will represent Romania at the Tokyo Summer Olympics this year.
(Translated by V. Palcu)
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