Simona Halep

Some Lesser Known Facts About Simona Halep

• Simona Halep is a Romanian tennis player. She is a former world No 1. She stunned the world when she won the 2019 Wimbledon against Serena Williams.

  

• Simona started playing tennis from the age of 4. When she was 16 years old, she moved to Romania’s capital Bucharest, to focus on her training.

• She was inspired to play tennis by watching her elder brother play.

• Her mother always dreamed of her winning the Wimbledon title. Since Simona was 10 years old, her mother, Tania Halep, wanted her to succeed in tennis and be the best.

• Her family owns a dairy products factory.

• She was a brilliant student, and her favourite subject was maths. She once stated that if she wasn’t a tennis player, she would have been a Mathematician.

• She is a fitness freak and does exercise every day for more than an hour. However, lifting weights is not a part of her exercise routine; as she does not want her body to gain weight and bulk up.

  

• Simona idolizes Justine Henin, and she wishes to play with her someday. She has stated that Roger Federer is one of her favourites but she does not idolize him.

  

• In 2009, when she was only 17 years old, she underwent breast reduction surgery. She stated that she did this to make her more agile and quick. She considers this as her biggest sacrifice.

• She admits that as a child, she was very shy and an introvert. Once in an interview, she stated that before training and matches, she used to warm up alone and not in front of anyone.

• In 2013, Simona won her first six World Tennis Association titles. She is the only player after Stefi Graf to win 6 titles in one year.
  

• In 2015, she participated in the Indian Wells Masters, California. Just a few days before her match, she got the news that her cousin, Nicia Arghit, had committed suicide. She was shaken up, but still, she played the match and won. She dedicated the match to her cousin.

  

• In 2018, she won the Roland-Garros (French Open). It was the first Grand Slam victory of her career.

  

• She considers herself short for the game of tennis. She believes that she would play a lot better if she was taller. Interestingly, she is the shortest woman to win the Wimbledon Women’s title.

  

• Her manager, Virginia Ruzici, is the only Romanian tennis player to win a Grand Slam title. Virginia won the French Open in 1978.

• Simona is the only player after Martina Hingis to reach a Grand Slam final without losing a set.

• Simona has reached the finals of major tournaments 17 times, but, she has won the Grand Slam only twice (French Open 2018 and Wimbledon 2019).

  

• She has numerous endorsements such as Nike, Adidas, Mercedes Benz, Hublot watches, and more.

• She has been the world No 1 twice between 2017 and 2017. She retained the position for a total of 64 weeks.

  

• She was very nervous before her Wimbledon final against Serena Williams. She had been preparing herself mentally; as she was intimidated by her. After the match, she revealed that she just went into the match thinking that she will win.