Romanian tennis player Simona Halep qualified in the quarter finals of the 2014 French Open, the second Grand Slam tournament of the year. It’s the first time in her career she reaches this stage in Roland Garros.

Halep, who is currently the world’s number four player, beat American player Sloane Stephens, on Monday, June 2, after two sets she won 6-4 and 6-3.

She already secured a EUR 220,000 check for reaching the quarter finals and 430 WTA points, but she will need to reach the final in order to advance to the number three spot in the WTA ranking.

Halep is now best quoted to win the tournament, on paper, after the first three favorites were eliminated earlier in the competition. In the quarter finals, Halep will face either Russian player Svetlana Kuznetsova (27 WTA) or Czech player Lucie Safarova (23).

If she were to reach the final, she might be in for another confrontation with Maria Sharapova, who she lost to in the Madrid Mutua Open final at the beginning of May.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Simona Halep's Facebook page)