Simona Halep won the Dubai
tournament on Saturday after a break of 5 years. The 28-year-old player
prevailed at the end of a drama-packed 2-hour-and-a-half final against the
young and talented Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan. Simona defeated Rybakina after
last autumn in Wuhan Halep was forced to withdraw in a direct encounter with
the Kazakhstani player. It’s very special to win my 20th title here
at the 20th edition of the Dubai tournament in 2020. I will enjoy
it, it’s a very beautiful moment, Simona said, adding I feel extraordinary
for being able to win. It was amazing. Rykabina fought to the very end, she
didn’t give up any points. It was very challenging mentally, the pressure piled
up, but I really wanted to win, so I gave it all to the very end. Halep
praised her opponent, whom many see as Maria Sharapova’s successor in the WTA
circuit.
She’s very strong. Her serve
is powerful, she’s tall and robust. I think she will soon enter the top 10,
Halep described Rybakina. The former world no. 1, currently world no. 2, has
won her first title this year. Halep just entered the 318th consecutive
week in the top 10 players, which makes her the 10th player in the
world history to do so. The figures may be boring, but they are key to
understanding one of the greatest athlete in the history of Romanian tennis, if
not sports as a whole. This is all the more important as Romania is struggling
with achieving excellence in the field of sports, facing severe underfunding.
With 20 titles won so far, Simona Halep has matched the performance of Victoria
Azarenka of Belarus, and is ranked 6th in the standings of players
who are still active, after Serena and Venus Williams, Kim Clujsters, Maria
Sharapova and Petra Kvitova. I’ve had many good results in the last 6-7 years.
I’ve always ranked in the top 5 or top 10, which isn’t easy. I’m proud of my
achievements, and these tournaments are a confidence boost for me, confirming
I’m still able to play at top level, Halep went on to say.
Simona Halep won
her first WTA tournaments 7 years ago, in Nurnberg, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Budapest,
New Haven, Moscow and Sofia. At the same time she won the Doha, Bucharest,
Shenzhen, Dubai, Indian Wells, Madrid and Montreal tournaments. She won two
Grand Slam tournaments, in Roland Garros in 2018 and in Wimbledon last year,
after a historic final against tennis legend Serena Williams. The Romanian also
played an Australian Open final in 2018. So far Halep lost 17 finals, and it
would be naïve to dwell on this statistic. On the contrary, it goes to say that
Halep has been a constant achiever in tennis. Last but not least, Halep has had
major contributions to Romania’s wins in the Fed Cup, and will represent
Romania at the Tokyo Summer Olympics this year.
(Translated by V. Palcu)