Simona Halep

Simona Halep (Romanian pronunciation: [siˈmona haˈlep]; born 27 September 1991) is a Romanian professional tennis player who is currently ranked a career-best world No. 2. Halep first broke into the world's top 50 at the end of 2012, the top 20 in August 2013, and then the top 10 in January 2014 (after reaching the Australian Open quarterfinal). She won her first 6 WTA titles in the same calendar year in 2013 (a feat that was last achieved by Steffi Graf in 1986 when she won her first 7), being named the WTA's Most Improved Player at its end, as well as being named ESPN Center Court's 2013 Most Improved Player. Halep reached the 2014 French Open final, her first Grand Slam final, where she played against Maria Sharapova, losing in three sets. She also reached the final of the WTA Finals the same year, losing to Serena Williams in straight sets after having defeated her earlier in the tournament.

Halep has been the most clicked player on WTATennis.com for two consecutive years (2014–2015), when she was awarded the WTA Most Popular Player of the Year prize.

Halep

Halep may refer to:

China Open

China Open can refer to four events:

WTA

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WTA Tour Championships

The WTA Tour Championships, currently known as the WTA Finals, is a tennis tournament played annually at the end of the season for the top-ranked players on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour. The month, city and number of players has changed since the first edition in 1972. Since 2003 there have been eight singles players divided into two round robin groups, and four doubles teams.

The WTA Tour Championships is generally considered to be the fifth most prestigious event on the women's tour after the four Grand Slam tournaments. It also has the largest prize money and ranking points after the Grand Slams.

The most successful player is Martina Navratilova who won 8 singles titles and 12 doubles titles.

History

The championships were held for the first time in October 1972 in Boca Raton, Florida (USA) as a climax event at the end of a series of tournaments sponsored by Virginia Slims, called the Virginia Slims Circuit. From 1972 to 1974, the event was held in October, before switching to March from 1975 until 1986. The WTA then decided to adopt a January–November playing season, and so the event was switched to being held at the end of each year. As a consequence, there were two championships held in 1986.