Simona Halep returns to top 5 in WTA rankings after Wimbledon win
Simona Halep returned in the top five of the updated Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings after winning her maiden Wimbledon title.
The Romanian tennis player achieved rank four with 5933 points in the table led by Australia's Ashleigh Barty with 6605 points. The top five also includes Naomi Osaka (2), Karolina Pliskova (3), Kiki Bertens (5).
The 27-year-old Halep first broke in the top five in 2014 and had maintained the position before moving down to the eighth spot in 2016. She bounced back gracefully, acquiring the apex position in 2017 before again falling to number five earlier this year.
Halep clawed up and settled at number four following her brilliant and successful campaign at Wimbledon. During the tournament, she went through shaky matches but managed to come out with flying colours.
She overcame a 2-5 second set deficit against Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the first round, went down in the second set and made a solid comeback against Mihaela Buzarnescu in the second round.
In the third and fourth rounds, Halep defeated Victoria Azarenka and 15-year-old Coco Gauff in straight sets, respectively. Halep suffered a 1-4 deficit in the first set against Zhang Shuai in the quarterfinals but regained her momentum. She then went onto hand straight sets defeat to Elina Svitolina in the semifinal and Serena Williams in the final, respectively.
Halep, the 2018 French Open champion, became the first Romanian to win women's singles title at Wimbledon. She also became the 10th active multiple-Slam winner as she equalled Victoria Azarenka, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Petra Kvitova, Garbine Muguruza and Naomi Osaka.
Tennis stars Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova and Angelique Kerber are the only players who have won more titles.
(With ANI inputs)
