Simona Halep’s rapid rise to the WTA’s top-five may be difficult to grasp for some.
One summer, the Romanian is barely in the top-60 and the next she is ranked No4 in the world – No3 come Monday – and became the highest seed left in the Roland Garros draw when we were just halfway into the third round.
Last year, she went 6-0 in tour-level finals, to capture six titles – only second to Serena Williams’ trophy tally.
But before she captured her first title in Nurnberg last June, she had a stellar run in Rome, where Halep – then ranked 64 – blasted her way into the semis as a qualifier.
She won six matches in a row and took out the likes of Svetlana Kuznetsova, Agnieszka Radwanska and Jelena Jankovic before she lost in straights to Williams.
The luck of the draw saw her get Spanish clay specialist Carla Suarez Navarro in the opening round at Roland Garros last year, and Halep lost in a close three sets but she says that run in Rome, particularly the win over Radwanska, gave her the belief she needed to move forward.
Her six titles were on three different surfaces – clay, grass and hard – and she beat people like Petra Kvitova and Caroline Wozniacki in New Haven, Ana Ivanovic in Sofia and Samantha Stosur in Moscow.
But the sceptics were not satisfied.
She was stopped in the Wimbledon second round by Li Na (in three sets) and Flavia Pennetta in the fourth round at the US Open and they were treating her like another Wozniacki, someone who won a lot in smaller events but didn’t do much in the bigger ones.
Halep reached her first major quarter-final in Australia earlier this season but fell flat against eventual runner-up Dominika Cibulkova – raising more doubts about her Grand Slam potential.
She silenced some critics by winning the Premier-level title in Doha in February, but coming into the French, many needed to see Halep go deep in the draw to validate her No4 seeding.
And that’s exactly what the 22-year-old has done. She stormed into the finals without dropping a set taking out all sorts of opponents en route.
The beauty of Halep’s rise is that her style is not like other top players who have dominated the majors recently – the power-hitters like Williams, Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka or even Li Na.
Halep’s game is a much smarter and more physical version of Radwanska’s and she has the right team around her.
She’s managed by ex-Roland Garros champion Virginia Ruzici, is coached by Wim Fissette – who previously coached Kim Clijsters – and has the likes of Ilie Nastase and Ion Tiriac also supporting her.
The variety in her game and her remarkable shot selection is a much-needed presence in the WTA and it’s great to see a former French Open junior champion like her make it to the finals of the ladies’ tournament six years later.
People have been obsessing over the breast reduction surgery she had five years ago but all they need to do to get to understand why Halep is No4 in the world is to watch her play a tennis match.
They’ll get to see every tennis shot known to man and leave with a much higher appreciation of the women’s game.
