Tennis ace Simona Halep becomes ambassador of Romanian tourism, reaches second highest cash prizes

Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, finalist and runner up at the recent Roland Garros competition, and currently number 3 WTA, will become ambassador of Romanian tourism, Prime Minister Victor Ponta announced on RomaniaTV. Her third place WTA is the best ever position held by a Romanian tennis player. It was for the first time in the last 34 years when Romania made it to the Roland Garros final. Halep also ranks second on the gross value of the awards she has received, outpacing Victor Hanescu. Her total award count reached USD 4.5 million, out of which USD 2.5 million only in the first five months of 2014. For making it to the French Open final – Roland Garros – she received an USD 1.1 million award. The leader of the ranking is Andrei Pavel, who withdrew from competitions, and who had USD 5.2 million in awards. Other Ambassadors of Romanian Tourism are Nadia Comăneci, Maia Morgenstern, Dinu Săraru, Dumitru Prunariu, Dan Puric, Ilie Năstase, Oana Pellea, Elisabeta Lipă, Ovidiu Lipan and Helmuth Duckadam, all of whom received diplomatic passports. Tennis star Simona Halep goes up to number 3 in WTA rankings, best ever result for a Romanian Romania’s tennis ace Simona Halep loses at Roland Garros after intense final against Russian Sharapova editor@romania-insider.com