Romania’s tennis ace Simona Halep to lose No.1 ranking after Australian Open

Romanian tennis ace Simona Halep will no longer be World No.1 in next week’s WTA singles ranking after the Australian Open tournament. Japanese Naomi Osaka could take Halep’s place, according to local News.ro. Osaka, 4th place WTA, defeated Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-1 on Wednesday, January 23, qualifying in the Australian Open semifinals. Following this performance, her first in Melbourne, Naomi Osaka climbed temporarily to the 1st place in the WTA singles ranking, surpassing Petra Kvitova from the Czech Republic, now 2nd and Simona Halep, now on 3rd. Simona Halep stopped in the round of 16 match at this year’s Australian Open, when she was defeated by American tennis star Serena Williams 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com (photo source: Shutterstock)