Tennis world en n 49 Tennis World issue 49 | Page 24

A Long Time Coming
Simona Halep’s epic journey to world number one
Federico Mariani
After losing to Jelena Ostapenko in the
French Open final, Simona Halep could time and again she came back to try once
more. Her failures were particularly
be forgiven for thinking she would never
be world number one. But four months annoying because it seemed as if she was
destined to become world number one.
later, she beat the same woman who
denied her at Roland Garros to claim the
WTA’s top spot. Serena Williams was out of action due to
her pregnancy, and nobody else on the
Tour had the experience or consistency to
rise to the now vacant top spot. At least,
that was the theory. In a tumultuous year,
2017 would see five different world
number ones (Serena, Kerber, Pliskova,
Muguruza and Halep), a record equaled
only in 2008. But being the last of this
group carries no shame. In fact, it makes
the accomplishment even more
impressive.
Fate has been cruel to Simona Halep.
Many times it has delivered her to the
door of the world number one ranking,
only to yank away the prize at the very
last moment. But fate, as so often is the
case, decided to give the Romanian a
second chance at mortality. Or fourth, in
this instance. Three times in the recent
past Halep played a match that, if she
won, would guarantee her the world
number one ranking. Three times she
failed.
For a great many players, missing so
many of these opportunities would be a
fatal psychological blow. She was so
close, so often, that she almost seemed
cursed. But Halep is no quitter. Indeed,
behind her slim frame and friendly
personality is a player capable of
withstanding the most enormous of
setbacks. Time and again she failed, and
When considering her failed attempts to
claim the top ranking, one is struck at how
public each setback was. At Wimbledon,
for example, Halep was just a few points
away from the top ranking against
Johanna Konta, but she could not close
out the second set tie-break and wilted in
the third. It was one of this year’s most-
watched Wimbledon matches, and could
not have been a more acute failure in a
brighter spotlight. In Cincinnati, another
prestigious event, she again had a chance
to claim the WTA crown but was