Simona Halep

Simona Halep
Close-up of Halep hitting a backhand
Halep at the 2018 French Open
Country (sports) Romania
ResidenceBucharest, Romania
Born (1991-09-27) 27 September 1991 (age 32)[1]
Constanța, Romania
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Turned pro26 June 2006
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize moneyUS$ 40,227,773
Official websitesimonahalep.com
Singles
Career record579–240
Career titles24
Highest rankingNo. 1 (9 October 2017)
Current rankingNo. 1135 (10 June 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenF (2018)
French OpenW (2018)
WimbledonW (2019)
US OpenSF (2015)
Other tournaments
Tour FinalsF (2014)
Olympic Games1R (2012)
Doubles
Career record67–71
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 71 (15 May 2017)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open1R (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2021, 2022)
French Open2R (2012)
Wimbledon1R (2011, 2012, 2013, 2015)
US Open2R (2011)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
US OpenQF (2015)
Team competitions
Fed CupSF (2019), record 22–10
Last updated on: 15 June 2024.

Simona Halep (Romanian pronunciation: [siˈmona haˈlep];[3] born 27 September 1991) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles twice between 2017 and 2019, for a total of 64 weeks, which ranks twelfth in the history of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings. Halep was the year-end No. 1 in 2017 and 2018. She has won two Grand Slam singles titles, at the 2018 French Open and the 2019 Wimbledon Championships.

From 27 January 2014 to 8 August 2021, Halep was ranked in the top 10 for 373 consecutive weeks, the eighth-longest streak in WTA history. During this seven-year span, she finished each year ranked no lower than No. 4. She has won 24 WTA Tour singles titles and finished runner-up 18 times. A French Open junior champion and former junior world No. 1, Halep first broke into the world's top 50 at the end of 2011, the top 20 in August 2013, and the top 10 in January 2014. She won her first six WTA titles in the same calendar year in 2013, and was the first to do so since Steffi Graf in 1986. This led to her being named the WTA Most Improved Player of the year. Halep reached three major finals at the 2014 French Open, 2017 French Open, and 2018 Australian Open before winning her first major title at the 2018 French Open over Sloane Stephens. Halep also finished runner-up at the 2014 WTA Finals to Serena Williams, despite defeating Williams in the round-robin stage. She did not defeat Williams a second time until the final of the 2019 Wimbledon Championships.

Halep was named the WTA Most Popular Player of the Year in 2014 and 2015, as well as the WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player of the Year in 2017, 2018, and 2019. She is a recipient of the Patriarchal Cross of Romania and the Order of the Star of Romania, and was named an honorary citizen of Bucharest. She is the third Romanian to reach the top 10 of the WTA rankings after Virginia Ruzici and Irina Spîrlea, and the second Romanian woman to win a major singles title after Ruzici. She is also the first Romanian woman to be ranked world No. 1 and the first Romanian to win a Wimbledon singles title. Halep is regarded as one of the best returners on the WTA Tour, while also building her game around controlled aggression and being able to hit winners from defensive positions.

Halep was suspended from the WTA Tour in October 2022 for four years after testing positive for a banned substance. In February 2024 the ban was reduced to 9 months, already served, and she returned to the tour at the 2024 Miami Open.

  1. ^ "Simona Halep". WTA Tennis. Archived from the original on 3 August 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  2. ^ "Career Prize Money Leaders" (PDF). WTA Tennis. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Simona a explicat cum se pronunta correct numele ei de familie" [Simona explained how to pronounce her last name correctly]. Sport.ro (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2016.

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