Simona Halep life and biography

Simona Halep is a world top-100 tennis player playing on the ITF Women's Circuit and the WTA Tour, and is currently the number-three ranked woman's tennis player in Romania.

CAREER:

Halep started playing tennis at age four, in emulation of her older brother.[3] She has self-described her playing style as being "an aggressive baseliner,"[3] while New York Times columnist Michael Kimmelman described her as "a scrappy player from Romania, short but with potent ground strokes and a scrambler’s talent."

2010:
In January she entered the Australian Open, but lost to Stéphanie Foretz of France 6–4, 4–6, 6–4 in the first round of qualifying.

She was as of April 5, 2010 ranked 166th in the world.

Her breakthrough on the WTA tour occurred during the 2010 Andalucia Tennis Experience on the clay courts of Marbella, Spain. As a qualifier, she advanced to the quarterfinals with wins over world #70 Iveta Benešová and world #36 Sorana Cîrstea. She then put up a fight against world No.16 Flavia Pennetta, but was finally beaten by the No. 2 seed 6–4, 7–6(4).

Halep then qualified for the 2010 Barcelona Ladies Open by winning 3 matches, but was defeated in the first round of the main draw by Carla Suárez Navarro 6–4, 3–6, 6–3.

Halep's impressive form continued into the 2010 Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem in Fes. Seeded first in the qualifying round, she successfully qualified by defeating Nathalie Vierin 4–6, 6–1, 6–3 and Estrella Cabeza Candela 6–1, 6–1. In the first round she defeated No. 8 seed Lucie Hradecká 7–5, 6–1. In the second round she feated Olga Savchuk 6–3, 6–1 before causing a big upset in the quarter-finals where she defeated No. 2 seed and former top 10 player Patty Schnyder 6–2, 7–6(3). In the semi-final she defeated Renata Voráčová 7–5, 6–4 to advance to her first WTA Tour Tournament final. But she lost to Voráčová's Czech compatriot Iveta Benešová 4–6, 2–6 in final.

In May 2010 Halep qualified for the French Open, defeating Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6–4, 6–7, 6–4 in the final round of qualifying. She was defeated 7–5, 6–1 in the first round by seventh seed Samantha Stosur.

In August 2010 Halep faced Jelena Janković at the U.S. Open in the first round. Halep had a chance to win an upset victory over Jankovic but was broken while serving for the set at 5–4 in the third. In the end, Jankovic won 6–4, 4–6, 7–5.

2011:
In January, she reached the quarterfinals in the 2011 ASB Classic defeating Ayumi Morita and Elena Vesnina, but losing to the second seed, Yanina Wickmayer. She would go then to the 2011 Moorilla Hobart International but she would lose in the third qualifying round, in a decisive set against Magdaléna Rybáriková.

At the 2011 Australian Open, Halep qualified for the first time in her career in the third round of a tennis Grand Slam on seniors, beating the 24th seed Alisa Kleybanova, 6–4 7–6, before losing in straight sets to the 12th seed Agnieszka Radwańska and not progressing to the fourth round.

At 2011 Estoril Open, she reached final of single but didn't capture the trophy yet because she lost to Italian Alberta Brianti 3-6, 4-6.

Simona finished 2013 as the most improved player on the women's tour, ranked 11 and having won more titles for the year than anyone bar Serena Williams. She left her Bucharest tennis base behind, went home to coastal Constanta and celebrated. ''I stayed with my family and friends, many parties,'' she said.

Six tournament victories - the first of the Romanian's career - and the third-most matches won (53) behind Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska were cause to let her hair down, and entered the new year 2014 with a spring in her step, belief in her mind and revised expectations. ''I want to remain in top 20 this year and my goal is to make quarter-finals at a grand slam.''

On 21 November 2013, she won the award WTA's Most Improved Player Of The Year for 2013. In December 2013, she was also named ESPN Center Court's 2013 Most Improved Player.

Simona Halep commences and wins her Round 1 at the Australian Open 2014 campaign against Katarzyna Piter of Poland.


PERSONAL:
Coached by Tomai Firicel Danut
Father, Stere, runs a cheese and milk factory in Romania; mother, Tania, sometimes travels with her; brother, Nicolae, is a student (introduced her to tennis)
Aggressive baseliner whose favorite shot is serve; likes all surfaces
Speaks Romanian, English
Tennis idols are Justine Henin and Roger Federer
Enjoys music, movies and handball
Favorite food is pasta; favorite drink is orange juice
Favorite city is Paris; favorite tournament is Roland Garros.

Read more