Simona Halep
Updated: Wikipedia source
Simona Halep (Romanian pronunciation: [siˈmona haˈlep]; born 27 September 1991) is a Romanian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 64 weeks, including as the year-end No. 1 in 2017 and 2018. Halep won 25 WTA Tour–level titles, including two majors at the 2018 French Open and the 2019 Wimbledon Championships. 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 season in 2013, 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 finished runner-up at three majors—the 2014 French Open, 2017 French Open, and 2018 Australian Open—before winning her first major title at the 2018 French Open. Halep also finished runner-up at the 2014 WTA Finals to Serena Williams, whom she went on to defeat to claim 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 within the world's top four. Halep was suspended from the WTA Tour in October 2022 after testing positive for a banned substance. In February 2024 the ban was reduced from 4 years to 9 months, already served, and she returned to the tour at the 2024 Miami Open. She retired from the sport in 2025. 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. Halep 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 the first Romanian woman to be ranked world No. 1 and the first Romanian to win a Wimbledon singles title. Halep was regarded as one of the best returners on the WTA Tour, building her game around controlled aggression and being able to hit winners from defensive positions.