TENNIS – Simona Halep won the Bucharest Open last Sunday beating Italian Roberta Vinci and is getting close to Maria Sharapova who leads the ranking of the Road to Singapore. Diego Sampaolo
World Number 3 Simona Halep has continued her dream year following up the Roland Garros final and the Wimbledon semifinal with the win on home soil in the Romanian capital where she defeated Roberta Vinci in straight sets with 6-1 6-3 in just 68 minutes.
Halep has won her second tournament of the year after Doha bringing the total of career wins to 8 including six triumphs in 2013 in Nuremberg, S’Hertogenbosch, Budapest, New Haven, Moscow and Sofia.
In the rankings Halep is just 11 points behind Maria Sharapova, who is currently leading the WTA Road to Singapore
Halep got an immediate break and took a 2-0 lead. Vinci, who reached her first final after a difficult start to her season, held serve to close the gap to 1-2. Halep got the second break to cruise to 4-1 and held serve in the next game. The Romanian player broke serve to love to close out the first set with 6-1.
Vinci won two consecutive games at the start of the second set but Halep refocused and reeled off five consecutive games with a break in the sixth game for 4-2 before taking a 5-2 lead. Vinci served to stay in the match and saved a match point for 3-5. Halep served for the match and won four consecutive points to seal the second set for 6-3.
“I really wanted to play this tournament and win it. Today’s final was a very emotional one. The crowd was amazing. What I wish is to get to Singapore and do an equally good job there”, said Halep
Thanks to her recent achievements Halep has become one of the most popular sportswomen in Romania. She still lives in her birth-town Constanta. She hails from a sports family as her father Stere was a former football player. He now owns a dairy products factory.
The young Romanian and Canadian Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard lead the new generation who could threaten the old guard formed by Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams. There are other exciting young stars who could make a major impact in the next few years like Garbine Muguruza, Belinda Bencic and Madison Keys.
Halep started her season in 11th place in the ranking but climbed to Number 3 after the final reached at the Roland Garros where she lost against Maria Sharapova.
Bouchard reached the semifinal at the Australian Open and the Roland Garros before beating Halep in the Wimbledon semifinal to reach the final at the All England Club where she lost against Petra Kvitova in straight sets.
Bouchard is the daughter of an investment banker. Eugenie and her twin sister Beatrice ere named after British royals. Bouchard and her compatriot Milos Raonic, who reached the Wimbledon semifinal for the first time in his career are grabbing the headlines in Canada where tennis was not considered as the most popular sport in a ice-hockey mad country.
Thanks to their achievements at Wimbledon Bouchard has moved up to World Number 7 in the WTA Ranking, while Raonic is now ranked World Number 6 in the ATP Ranking and this is only the beginning of a bright future for Canadian tennis.
