Simona Halep is a Romanian professional tennis player. She is one of the most successful tennis player in the world, ranked world number 1 twice by “Women’s Tennis Association” between 2017 and 2019. Having held the world no 1 rank for 64 consecutive weeks, she grabbed the tenth position in the history of “Women’s tennis association’s” rankings. She has won 20 WTA singles title, two Grand slams single titles at the 2018 French open, and her historic winning of First Wimbledon title in 2019, defeating Serena Williams.© ibollynews
She was born on 27 September, 1991 in Constanta, Romania. Her father is Stere Halep who is a soccer player and owner of a dairy factory. Her mother, Tania Halep is also associated with their family business. Her brother, Nicolae is five and a half years older than her, and also played tennis in childhood. It was his training sessions which compelled her to start playing tennis at an early age, both of her parents were very supportive of her athletic ventures. They helped and encouraged her from a very early age, and made a lot of sacrifices to get her the best coaches and trainings.
She began her training at the age of six, under local coach Ioan Stan. As a teenager she was partly sponsored by Corneliu Idu, the owner of the leading tennis club in Constanta. When she was sixteen she moved away from home to Bucharest for better training and opportunities. She won many awards and titles in her junior career too.© ibollynews
Personal Life
| Original/Real Name | Simona Halep |
| Other/Nickname | Money |
| Profession/Occupation | Tennis Player |
| Birthplace | Constanta, Romania |
| Nationality | Romanian |
| Age (as in 2020) | 29 years (as of 2020) |
| Date of Birth | 27th September, 1991 |
| Hometown | Constanta, Romania |
| Caste/Religion | Aromanian |
| Zodiac sign/Sun sign | Libra |
| Current career status | Active |
Physical Appearance
| Height (Centimeters) | 168 cm (5’06”) |
| Weight (Kilograms) | 60 kgs |
| Body Measurements | 34-28-36 |
| Hair Color | Medium Ash Blonde |
| Eye’s Color | Moss green |
Family, Relatives & Siblings
| Parents | |
| Father’s name | Stere Halep |
| Mother’s name | Tania Halep |
| Brother’s name | Nicolae Halep |
| Sister’s name | N/A |
Marital Status, Affairs, Boyfriends, Kids & Relationship
| Boyfriend | Toni Iuruc(Businessman) |
| Dating | Formerly dated tennis player Radu Barbu |
| Marital Status | Unmarried |
| Spouse/Husband | NA© ibollynews |
| Son | NA |
| Daughter | NA |
Education Qualification and Schooling/College
| School | Scoala Gimnaziala Nr.30 Gheorghe Titeica, Constanta, Romania
Liceul Cu Program Sportive (sports school) |
| College/ University | Universitatae Ovidius din, Constanta, Romania |
| Educational Qualification | Undergraduate |
Favorite Things and Likes & Dislikes
| Controversies | Simona was rumored to be dating former tennis player Radu Barbu. Now She has confessed to be in a relationship with 40 year old Macedonian billionaire businessman Toni Iuruc. |
| Favorite Food | Singaporean Chicken rice |
| Favorite tennis players | Justine Henin, Andrei Pavel, and Roger Federa |
| Favorite Movie | Not known |
| Favorite Actor | Not known |
| Favorite Actress | Not known |
| Favorite Color | Not known |
| Favorite Hobbies | Football, Golf and Ice skating |
| Favorite Sports | Tennis |
| Favorite Destination | Paris |
| Favorite Workout | Yoga |
Money/Net Worth
| Salary | N/A |
| Net Worth | $25 million (approx.) |
Contact Information
| Official Website | https://simonahalep.com/en/ |
| E-Mail Address | Not Known |
| Phone Number | Not Known |
| House Address | Constanta, Romania |
Social Media
| Wikipedia | Simona Halep |
| @Simona_Halep | |
| Official Facebook account | |
| Official Instagram Account |
Personal quote:
“I don’t have big muscles. I’m not tall. I have power inside. I fight.”
Early Life and Career:
Halep was also a world number 1 junior player in her teenage. She started playing on the International Tennis Federation Junior circuit at a tender age of 13, in 2005 and won all four ITF singles event the following year. She represented Romania at Junior Fed Cup that year, moved up to higher level events later and won her first Grade-1 title in 2007. The ending of her junior career is marked by winning her only Junior Grand Slam title in 2008 at the French Open, becoming the second Romanian girl to win a junior Grand Slams singles title, and top-ranked junior in the world.©ibollynews
- In 2009 she won $50,000 for a tournament at Makaraska, $25,000 ITF tournament in Maribor, played brilliantly and made her way to the semifinals of several such tournaments in Minsk, Belarus, Opole, Poland. This made her debut in top 200 WTA rankings.
- In 2010 Halep made her WTA main-draw debut, qualifying for three consecutive events. She lost the Australian open, reached the quarter finals for “Andalucia tennis experience and qualified for the “Barcelona Ladies Open”. Later that year she qualified for her first ever grand slam main draw, at the French Open and US open but lose both the matches. She won a $100k Torhout Ladies Open that year, and, scaled up her ranking to No. 81 in the world.
- She won her first career grand slam matches at the Australian open in 2011, secured a spot in the third round , but faced defeat their too. Later she won a match at the opening round of 2011 French Open, reached the second round at Wimbledon, qualified for the Roger’s cup at the same year. At US Open that year, she recorded her first top 10 victory to Li Na and managed to secure 47th position in the world rankings.
- In 2012 she made it to the third round of “Indian Wells masters” and “Miami Masters”. She also played at the Brussels Open and managed to secure a place at the semifinals. Finishing at no 47 for the second consecutive year. She represented Romania that year at 2012 Olympics in London.© ibollynews
- 2013 was a year of breakthrough for her. She reached the semifinals at the Italian Opens. She dominated in lower level tournaments, winning six WTA titles namely Nuremburg Cup, Rosmalen Grasscourt Championship, Budapest Grand prix, New haven Open, Kremlin Cup, etc. she continued her success in the US Opens. At the end of the year she qualified for WTA Tournament for Champions and won this event too. With her sixth WTA title she finished the year at number 11 and was named the “WTA most improved player of the year”.
- In 2014 Halep reached the quarter final of Australian Open making her debut in the top 10 of WTA rankings. After “Indian Wells Open, she rose to no 5 in the world , she also reached to the finals of Madrid Open and French Open, with these two runner ups she moved up to no 3. She qualified for the WTA tour championships for the first time, defeating world no 1 Serena Williams.later defeated by her in the finals, finishing the year at no 3.
- In 2015 she won the Shenzhen Open and Dubai Open. And Indian Wells Open. In the 2015 Roger’s Cup, she reached the finals but had to withdraw for a leg injury. Halep then produced her best Grand slam result of the year at the US open. Finishing the year at no 2 world ranking.
- She underperformed in several premium mandatory events in 2016 like Australian Open, Indian wells open, and the Miami open. Later she won the Madrid Open and returned to top 5 WTA ranking, followed by back to back titles at Bucharest Open and the Canadian Open. After losses in Wuhan Open and Cincinnati Open she ended the year at no 4.
- Even though a slow start, she bounced back at 2017 with making it to the quarterfinals of Miami Open Madrid Open, Italian Open and French Open. She continued to produce strong results later in the year in Canadian Open, us Open and China Open securing her position at world no 1. She became the first Romanian and seventh player to make it to the top without wining Grand slam.
- In 2018 she won her first doubles title in the Shenzhen Open. She loosed some tournaments but later continued her success by reaching the finals of Canadian open and Cincinnati open. At the French Open Halep made her career first Grand slam title. She became the sixth player to win both the girls singles and women’s singles title at the French Open.
- After recovering from several injuries in 2019 she participated in Sydney Open, Australia Open, Qatar Open, Indian wells, Miami Open, French Open and Eastbound International but lose in all of them. At the 2019 Wimbledon Halep made it to the Finals as an underdog against Serena Williams, but won the championship within 56 minutes. She became the first Romanian to win a Wimbledon singles title and rose back to world no 4.
- In 2020 Halep reached the quarterfinal in Adelaide tournament and semifinals at the Australian Open. Later winning her 20th WTA title in Dubai.
Current life/Events:
Simona Halep started her 2020 WTA tour at the new tournament in Adelaide, but lost in the quarterfinals. She reached the semifinals at the 2020 Australian Open, but lost again. She won her 20th WTA title in Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship, approaching her 318th week in the Top 10, the tenth longest streak in the WTA history.
She is expected to play at the Palermo Open in August, the first WTA event to be held after the shutdown caused by covid 19 pandemic. But it’s highly doubtful after Italy imposing new mandatory quarantine protocols.© ibollynews
AWARDS AND HONOURS:
- WTA Most improved player of the year 2013
- WTA Most Popular Player of the Year 2014
- WTA Most Popular Player of the Year 2015
- WTA Fans Favorite Singles Player of the Year 2017
- WTA Fans Favorite Singles Player of the Year 2018
- Recipient of Patriarchal Cross of Romania and Order of the Star of Romania.
- Cetacean de OneCare (Honorary Citizen) honor in 2018 by the city of Bucharest, Romania.
- WTA Player of the year for 2018
- ITF World Champion Award for 2018
- WTA Fans Favorite Singled Player of the Year 2019
- Featured on the ESPN’s 20 most dominant player of the year, 2019.
Photos:
Video
Simona Halep Wimbledon 2019, winner’s speech.
Facts:
Here’s some interesting, lesser known facts about Simona Halep:
- Simona was a brilliant student too and loved doing mathematics. On asking, she expressed she would be a Mathematician if not a tennis player.
- She is a fitness freak and undergoes a strict fitness regime. She avoids weight lifting as she doesn’t want her body to bulk up.
- She received her initial training in tennis from Andrei Mlendea, Adrean Marcu, and Firicel Tomai.She then trained under Belgian Coach Wim Fissette, Romanian Coach Victor Ionita and Thomas Hogstedt. In November 2015 Halep hired Darren Cahill as her full time coach.©ibollynews
- In 2019, in her 17th year Halep undergone a breast reduction surgery to improve her reaction time and to be agile. She considers as the single biggest sacrifice she made for tennis.
- She thinks she’s not tall enough for the game of tennis. She would be a lot better player if she was tall. She is the shortest player to win a Wimbledon title.
- Simona is managed by Virginia Ruzici, a former Romanian tennis player to win a Grand slam title.
- She has numerous endorsements such as Nike, adidas, Mercedes Benz, Hublot watches and more.
- Simona revealed she wasn’t used to play in grass courts earlier in her career. She would often fall and make herself injured while training.
- In an Interview she said she is a very shy and introvert person in general. She used to warm up before matches and trainings as she didn’t want people to see her.
- Halep describes her playing style as an “aggressive base liner” influenced by Justin Henin, her role model. She has excellent defensive skills and great court coverage. Her favorite surface is clay.
- Halep uses Wilson rackets, specifically Blade 98 model.
- According to Romanian journalists Halep undoubtedly is the biggest sports star in Romania.© ibollynews
- She used to rush back home whenever possible earlier. She jokingly says she is not that important in her home since her niece is born, with whom she loves to spend time.
