Simona Halep

Simona Halep is regarded as one of the best players on the women’s tour in the 2010s and early 2020s for her consistency, her place as world number one in 2017 and her two Grand Slam titles, Roland Garros 2018 and Wimbledon 2019.

Simona Halep began her collaboration with Patrick Mouratoglou in April 2022 but it was aborted after a few months. They parted ways in October 2022 after the Romanian was suspended for testing positive for food contamination, which was only recognised by the sporting authorities fifteen months later.

Junior career: World No. 1, one Grand Slam title

Simona Halep made her debut on the junior circuit in 2005. In 2006, she won her first four Futures tournaments and was selected in the Fed Cup with Romania. Accompanied by Irina-Camelia Begu and Andreea Mitu, she helped her country to a ninth-place finish that same year.

In the junior Grand Slam, Halep reached the final of the Australian Open in 2008 before winning the French Open against her compatriot Elena Bogdan in the final. Halep became only the second player from her country to win a Junior Grand Slam title since Mariana Simionescu in 1974. This trophy enabled her to reach the number one junior ranking in the world, an excellent way to launch her professional career.

WTA career: a debut in 2010

Winner of 24 titles on the WTA Tour, the Constanta native reached world No. 1 in 2017. A few months later, in 2018, she won her first Grand Slam tournament at Roland Garros. In 2019, she took on seven-time winner Serena Williams at Wimbledon to claim her second Major. Three more Grand Slam finals have been added to her list of achievements.

Simona Halep turned professional in 2006 and made her debut on the WTA Tour in 2010, qualifying for three consecutive tournaments. She reached the final of the last one, in Morocco, losing to Czech Iveta Benesova. These performances saw her leap up the rankings, just a step away from the Top 100, where she will enter in July 2010 after a semi-final in Biarritz, a tournament played outside the WTA circuit.

The Romanian made her first Grand Slam appearance at Roland Garros that same year, losing in the first round to Australia’s Samantha Stosur.
 

WTA honours: 24 titles

Halep has won 24 titles on the Tour, including her first in 2013 in Nuremberg (outdoor clay) against Andrea Petkovic in the final and her most recent at the WTA 1000 in Toronto, under the supervision of Patrick Mouratoglou.

Her second title came at Bois-le-Duc, this time on grass, against Kristen Flipkens in the final. Her first title on hard court, the only surface she still lacked, came in New Haven on hard, when she beat Petra Kvitova in the final, also in 2013.

Over the course of her career, the Romanian won two Grand Slam titles (Roland Garros and Wimbledon) and 9 WTA 1000 tournaments. In August 2022, she was crowned champion in Toronto against Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia.

In addition to her 24 titles, she failed to reach 18 finals on the circuit. She also won a doubles title in 2017, in Shenzhen, with her compatriot Irina-Camelia Begu.

Simona Halep is the daughter of former footballer Stere Halep and housewife Tania Halep. Her childhood idol was Belgium’s Justine Henin, for the way she played and fought on the court despite her diminutive frame. She loves pizza, chocolate and fresh lemonade. She is in love with Paris, which she considers to be the most beautiful city in the world, and where she won her first Grand Slam, at Roland Garros in 2018. In her spare time, she enjoys shopping and walking in the parks.