Romania’s Halep, third to qualify for all-star WTA finals in Singapore

Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, currently number 2 WTA, recently qualified for the WTA Finals in Singapore. She is the third Romanian tennis player to ever qualify for this tournament, after Virginia Ruzici – now Halep’s manager and Irina Spîrlea. "It's always been a dream of mine to compete in the WTA Finals," Halep said. "I've had great success this year, and I'm looking forward to competing against the best players in the world in Singapore." Her success this year and her rapid evolution to the top of the ranking has been hailed by the WTA Chairman & CEO Stacey Allaster: "Simona Halep's ascent over the last couple of years has been incredible, and she has become one of the elite players in the game.” Halep is the third player to qualify this year, after Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. The 22-year old Romanian will be playing in Singapore starting October 20. The competition brings together the eight best women tennis players of the year, and the eight best doubles teams, who will play for awards worth over USD 6 million. Halep had her three best Grand Slam performances this year - quarterfinals at the Australian Open, finals at the French Open and semis of Wimbledon. The Romanian started the year ranked No.11, and managed to reach No.2, to become Romania's highest-ranked player ever. editor@romania-insider.com