2018 Simona Halep tennis season

The 2018 Simona Halep tennis season officially began on 1 January 2018 with the start of the 2018 WTA Tour. Simona Halep entered the season as the No. 1 ranked player in the world.

2018 Simona Halep tennis season
Singles
Simona Halep at the 2018 Roland Garros
Full name	Simona Halep
Country	Romania
Calendar prize money	$6,005,336
Season record	46–11 (80.7%)
Calendar titles	3
Current ranking	No. 1^[1]
Ranking change from previous year
Grand Slam & significant results
Australian Open	F
French Open	W
Wimbledon	3R
US Open	1R
Injuries
Injuries	Foot injury (February) Back injury (September)
Last updated on: 30 September 2018.

Year in detail edit

Early hard court season and Australian Open edit

Shenzhen Open edit

Halep began her season at the Shenzhen Open. She was the top seed and advanced to the final after successfully defeating Nicole Gibbs, Duan Yingying, Aryna Sabalenka and Irina-Camelia Begu. She defeated her in the opponent's final that eliminated her one year ago in R16 in three sets, Kateřina Siniaková.

Australian Open edit

Her next tournament was the Australian Open. She was the main draw favorite for the first time in a Grand Slam career. She defeated Destanee Aiava in straight sets, still in the first round injured at the right leg's ankle. She then beat Eugenie Bouchard, former world rank 5, Lauren Davis in an epic match that lasted 3 hours and 45 minutes taking the third set 15–13. The match equaled the Australian Open record for most games played in a women's singles draw match at 48 — equaling Chanda Rubin's 1996 quarterfinal win over Arantxa Sánchez Vicario.^[2]^[3] She went on to defeat Naomi Osaka in the 4th round in straight sets and former world No. 1 Karolína Plíšková in the quarter-finals, also in straight sets. She faced former world No. 1 and 2016 Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber in the semi-finals. In the 3rd set, she saved two match points and went on to win, qualifying for the Australian Open final for the first time.

In the final, Halep was defeated by Caroline Wozniacki in three sets.^[4]^[5]

After Australian Open fell to second place for four weeks.

Qatar Ladies Open edit

Halep then played the Qatar Open, where she received a bye in the first round. She defeated Ekaterina Makarova with a bagel in the second set. The Australian Open finalist put together a dominant performance and needed just 58 minutes. She then defeated Anastasija Sevastova, seed 13 in straight sets. Her next opponent was American, CiCi Bellis. The first set was won by a bagel. In semifinal should have played with, but withdrawing prior to her match against Garbiñe Muguruza because of a right foot injury. Nevertheless, despite not playing the next week, she returned to the top spot.

March sunshine events edit

Indian Wells Masters edit

Halep then played the Indian Wells Masters, where she received a bye in the first round. She defeated Kristýna Plíšková in straight sets, Caroline Dolehide in three sets, Wang Qiang in straight sets and Petra Martić in three sets, in straight sets before she lost to Naomi Osaka again in the semifinal.^[6]

Miami Open edit

Halep then entered the Miami Open, where she also received a bye in the first round. In round 2 beat French Océane Dodin in three sets. However, she lost in the third round to 2012 champion Agnieszka Radwańska.^[7]

European clay court season edit

Fed Cup, World Group-Play Off edit

She kicked off her clay court campaign by leading Romania against Switzerland in their World Group Play-off tie in Cluj-Napoca. By virtue of a 3–1 victory with Halep going 2–0 in the singles rubbers, they secured a place in the 2019 World Group for the first time in two years.^[8]

Porsche Tennis Grand Prix edit

After Fed Cup, Halep went to Stuttgart where she knocked a victory on Magdaléna Rybáriková before losing to quarters at CoCo Vandeweghe^[9]

Mutua Madrid Open edit

Halep then played the Madrid Open. She defeated Ekaterina Makarova, giving up just one game, Elise Mertens with a bagel in first set, Kristýna Plíšková and advanced into the quarterfinals. However, she lost Karolína Plíšková in straight sets, after winning the last two editions and after having only 15 victories in a row.

Italian Open edit

Halep's next tournament was the Italian Open, where she received a bye in the first round. She defeated Naomi Osaka, winner at Indian Wells, yielding a single game. In the third round should have played with Madison Keys, but the latter had to retire due to a shoulder injury, so Simona qualified in the quarter-finals without playing in round 3. In the quarter-finals defeated Caroline Garcia, the 7th World Player, with only 5 games. In semifinal has marred^{[clarification needed]} one of her rivals Russian, Maria Sharapova winning editions of 2011, 2012 and 2015 in an epic match. Simona won in 3 sets after losing the first set. In the final she lost to the same opponent last year, Elina Svitolina. She lost the first set to 0.

French Open edit

In the French Open, Halep was the 1st seed for the second time in a Grand Slam. In the first round, she defeated Alison Riske losing the first set. She was forced to compete on the 4th day on Wednesday after the match was postponed due to the dark. In the second round, she easily defeated the American wildcard Taylor Townsend. Her opponent in the third round was the 2014 semi-finalist, Andrea Petkovic. Halep defeated the German in straight sets, not losing a game in the second set. Her next opponent was the 16th seed Elise Mertens, who she defeated in 59 minutes, dropping just 3 games. In the quarterfinals, she met Kerber in a rematch of the Australian Open semifinal, and defeated her once again in three sets.. In the semi-final she met former world No. 1 and French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza, and defeated her in straight sets. In the final, Halep met Sloane Stephens, and came back from a set deficit to win her first Grand Slam title, on her fourth attempt. She became the first Romanian woman to win a Grand Slam title since Virginia Ruzici won the French Open in 1978.^[10]^[11]

All matches edit

**Key**
W	F	SF	QF	#R	RR	Q#	P#	DNQ	A	Z#	PO	G	S	B	NMS	NTI	P	NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Singles matches edit

Tournament	Match	Round	Opponent	Rank	Result	Score
Shenzhen Open Shenzhen, China WTA International Hard, outdoor 1–7 January 2018
	1	1R	Nicole Gibbs	110	Win	6–4, 6–1
	2	2R	Duan Yingying	91	Win	3−6, 6–1, 6–2
	3	QF	Aryna Sabalenka	73	Win	6–2, 6–2
	4	SF	Irina-Camelia Begu (4)	43	Win	6–1, 6–4
	5	W	Kateřina Siniaková (6)	47	Win (1)	6–1, 2–6, 6–0
Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam Hard, outdoor 15–28 January 2018
	6	1R	Destanee Aiava (WC)	193	Win	7–6^(7–5), 6–1
	7	2R	Eugenie Bouchard	112	Win	6–2, 6–2
	8	3R	Lauren Davis	76	Win	4–6, 6–4, 15–13
	9	4R	Naomi Osaka	72	Win	6–3, 6–2
	10	QF	Karolína Plíšková (6)	6	Win	6–3, 6–2
	11	SF	Angelique Kerber (21)	16	Win	6–3, 4–6, 9–7
	12	F	Caroline Wozniacki (2)	2	Loss (1)	6–7^(2–7), 6–3, 4–6
Qatar Open Doha, Qatar WTA Premier 5 Hard, outdoor 12–17 February 2018
	–	1R	Bye
	13	2R	Ekaterina Makarova	36	Win	6–1, 6–0
	14	3R	Anastasija Sevastova (13)	15	Win	6–4, 6–3
	15	QF	CiCi Bellis	48	Win	6–0, 6–4
	-	SF	Garbiñe Muguruza (4)	4	Withdrew	N/A
Indian Wells Open Indian Wells, United States WTA Premier Mandatory Hard, outdoor 5–18 March 2018
	–	1R	Bye
	16	2R	Kristýna Plíšková	77	Win	6–4, 6–4
	17	3R	Caroline Dolehide (WC)	165	Win	1–6, 7–6^(7–3), 6–2
	18	4R	Wang Qiang	55	Win	7–5, 6–1
	19	QF	Petra Martić	51	Win	6–4, 6–7^(5–7), 6–3
	20	SF	Naomi Osaka	44	Loss	3–6, 0–6
Miami Open Miami, United States WTA Premier Mandatory Hard, outdoor 19 March – 1 April 2018
	–	1R	Bye
	21	2R	Océane Dodin (WC)	98	Win	3–6, 6–3, 7–5
	22	3R	Agnieszka Radwańska (30)	32	Loss	6–3, 2–6, 3–6
Fed Cup WG Play-offs: Switzerland vs. Romania Cluj-Napoca, Romania Fed Cup Clay, indoor 21–22 April 2018
	23	-	Viktorija Golubic	115	Win	6–3, 1–6, 6–1
	24	-	Patty Schnyder	149	Win	6–2, 6–1
Stuttgart Open Stuttgart, Germany WTA Premier Clay, indoor 23–29 April 2018
	–	1R	Bye
	25	2R	Magdaléna Rybáriková	18	Win	4–6, 6–2, 6–3
	26	QF	CoCo Vandeweghe (WC)	16	Loss	4–6, 1–6
Madrid Open Madrid, Spain WTA Premier Mandatory Clay, outdoor 7–13 May 2018
	27	1R	Ekaterina Makarova	33	Win	6–1, 6–0
	28	2R	Elise Mertens	16	Win	6–0, 6–3
	29	3R	Kristýna Plíšková (Q)	94	Win	6–4, 6–1
	30	QF	Karolína Plíšková (6)	6	Loss	4–6, 3–6
Italian Open Rome, Italy WTA Premier 5 Clay, outdoor 14–20 May 2018
	–	1R	Bye
	31	2R	Naomi Osaka	21	Win	6–1, 6–0
	-	3R	Madison Keys (13)	14	Win	w/o
	32	QF	Caroline Garcia (7)	7	Win	6–2, 6–3
	33	SF	Maria Sharapova	40	Win	4–6, 6–1, 6–4
	34	F	Elina Svitolina (4)	4	Loss (2)	0–6, 4–6
French Open Paris, France Grand Slam Clay, outdoor 27 May – 10 June 2018
	35	1R	Alison Riske	83	Win	2–6, 6–1, 6–1
	36	2R	Taylor Townsend (WC)	72	Win	6–3, 6–1
	37	3R	Andrea Petkovic	107	Win	7–5, 6–0
	38	4R	Elise Mertens (16)	16	Win	6–2, 6–1
	39	QF	Angelique Kerber (12)	12	Win	6–7^(3–7), 6–3, 6–2
	40	SF	Garbiñe Muguruza (3)	3	Win	6–1, 6–4
	41	W	Sloane Stephens (10)	10	Win (2)	3–6, 6–4, 6–1
Wimbledon Championships London, United Kingdom Grand Slam Grass, outdoor 2–15 July 2018
	42	1R	Kurumi Nara	100	Win	6–2, 6–4
	43	2R	Zheng Saisai	126	Win	7–5, 6–0
	44	3R	Hsieh Su-wei	48	Loss	6–3, 4–6, 5–7
Canadian Open Montreal, Canada WTA Premier 5 Hard, outdoor 6–12 August 2018
	–	1R	Bye
	45	2R	Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova	28	Win	7–6^(11–9), 4–6, 7–5
	46	3R	Venus Williams (13)	14	Win	6–2, 6–2
	47	QF	Caroline Garcia (6)	6	Win	7–5, 6–1
	48	SF	Ashleigh Barty (15)	16	Win	6–4, 6–1
	49	W	Sloane Stephens (3)	3	Win (3)	7–6^(8–6), 3–6, 6–4
Cincinnati Open Cincinnati, United States WTA Premier 5 Hard, outdoor 13–19 August 2018
	–	1R	Bye
	50	2R	Ajla Tomljanović (Q)	58	Win	4–6, 6–3, 6–3
	51	3R	Ashleigh Barty (16)	16	Win	7–5, 6–4
	52	QF	Lesia Tsurenko	44	Win	6–4, 6–1
	53	SF	Aryna Sabalenka	34	Win	6–3, 6–4
	54	F	Kiki Bertens	17	Loss (3)	6–2, 6–7^(6–8), 2–6
Connecticut Open New Haven, United States WTA Premier Hard, outdoor 20–26 August 2018
	–	1R	Bye
	–	2R	Camila Giorgi	45	Withdrew	N/A
U.S. Open New York City, United States Grand Slam Hard, outdoor 27 August – 9 September 2018
	55	1R	Kaia Kanepi	44	Loss	2–6, 4–6
Wuhan Open Wuhan, China WTA Premier 5 Hard, outdoor 23–29 September 2018
	–	1R	Bye
	56	2R	Dominika Cibulková	31	Loss	0–6, 5–7
China Open Beijing, China WTA Premier Mandatory Hard, outdoor 1–7 October 2018
	57	1R	Ons Jabeur (Q)	116	Loss	1–6, retired
Kremlin Cup Moscow, Russia WTA Premier Hard, indoor 15–21 October 2018
	–	1R	Bye
	–	2R	Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova	40	Withdrew	N/A

Tournament schedule edit

Singles schedule edit

Halep's 2018 singles tournament schedule is as follows:

Date	Championship	Location	Category	Surface	2017 result	2017 points	2018 points	Outcome
1 January – 7 January	Shenzhen Open	Shenzhen	International	Hard	2R	30	280	Winner defeated Kateřina Siniaková 6–1, 2–6, 6–0
15 January – 28 January	Australian Open	Melbourne	Grand Slam	Hard	1R	10	1300	Final lost to Caroline Wozniacki 6–7^(2–7), 6–3, 4–6
12 February – 17 February	Qatar Open	Doha	Premier 5^[a]	Hard	DNP	0	350	Semifinals withdrew to Garbiñe Muguruza N/A
5 March – 18 March	Indian Wells Open	Indian Wells	Premier Mandatory	Hard	3R	65	390	Semifinals lost to Naomi Osaka 3–6, 0–6
19 March – 1 April	Miami Open	Miami	Premier Mandatory	Hard	QF	215	65	Third round lost to Agnieszka Radwańska 6–3, 2–6, 3–6
23 April – 29 April	Stuttgart Open	Stuttgart	Premier	Clay (i)	SF	185	100	Quarterfinals lost to CoCo Vandeweghe 4–6, 1–6
7 May – 13 May	Madrid Open	Madrid	Premier Mandatory	Clay	W	1000	215	Quarterfinals lost to Karolína Plíšková 4–6, 3–6
14 May – 20 May	Italian Open	Rome	Premier 5	Clay	F	585	585	Final lost to Elina Svitolina 0–6, 4–6
27 May – 10 June	French Open	Paris	Grand Slam	Clay	F	1300	2000	Winner defeated Sloane Stephens 3–6, 6–4, 6–1
2 July – 15 July	Wimbledon	London	Grand Slam	Grass	QF	430	130	Third round lost to Hsieh Su-wei 6–3, 4–6, 5–7
6 August – 12 August	Canadian Open	Montréal	Premier 5	Hard	SF	350	900	Winner defeated Sloane Stephens 7–6^(8–6), 3–6, 6–4
13 August – 19 August	Cincinnati Open	Cincinnati	Premier 5	Hard	F	585	585	Final lost to Kiki Bertens 6–2, 6–7^(6–8), 2–6
20 August – 25 August	Connecticut Open	New Haven	Premier	Hard	DNP	0	0	Withdrew due to injuries to achilles tendon
27 August – 9 September	US Open	New York City	Grand Slam	Hard	1R	10	10	First round lost to Kaia Kanepi 2–6, 4–6
23 September – 29 September	Wuhan Open	Wuhan	Premier 5	Hard	2R	1	1	Second round lost to Dominika Cibulková 0–6, 5–7
1 October – 7 October	China Open	Beijing	Premier Mandatory	Hard	F	650	10	First round lost to Ons Jabeur 1–6, retired
15 October – 21 October	Kremlin Cup	Moscow	Premier	Hard	DNP	0	0	Withdrew due to injuries to back injury
Road to Singapore points as of 2018 China Open						5675	6921	1246 difference
Total year-end points						6175	6921	746 difference

Yearly records edit

Head-to-head matchups edit

Surface	Win–loss	Win%
Hard	28–6	82.35%
Clay	16–3	84.21%
Grass	2–1	66.67%
Overall	46–10	82.14%

Players are ordered by letter. (Bold denotes a top 10 player at the time of the most recent match between the two players, Italic denotes top 50.)

Top 10 wins edit

#	Player	Rank	Tournament	Surface	Round	Score	SHR
1.	Karolína Plíšková	6	Australian Open, Australia	Hard	Quarterfinals	6–3, 6–2	1
2.	Caroline Garcia	7	Italian Open, Italy	Clay	Quarterfinals	6–2, 6–3	1
3.	Garbiñe Muguruza	3	French Open, France	Clay	Semifinals	6–1, 6–4	1
4.	Sloane Stephens	10	French Open, France	Clay	Final	3–6, 6–4, 6–1	1
5.	Caroline Garcia	6	Canadian Open, Canada	Hard	Quarterfinals	7–5, 6–1	1
6.	Sloane Stephens	3	Canadian Open, Canada	Hard	Final	7–6^(8–6), 3–6, 6–4	1

Finals edit

Singles: 6 (3 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (1–1)
WTA Tour Championships (0–0)
Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (1–2)
Premier (0–0)
International (1–0)

Finals by surface
Hard (2–2)
Clay (1–1)
Grass (0–0)

Titles by setting
Outdoors (3–2)
Indoors (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Jan 2018	Shenzhen Open, China	International	Hard	Katerina Siniaková	6–1, 2–6, 6–0
Loss	1–1	Jan 2018	Australian Open, Australia	Grand Slam	Hard	Caroline Wozniacki	6–7^(2–7), 6–3, 4–6
Loss	1–2	May 2018	Italian Open, Italy	Premier 5	Clay	Elina Svitolina	0–6, 4–6
Win	2–2	Jun 2018	French Open, France	Grand Slam	Clay	Sloane Stephens	3–6, 6–4, 6–1
Win	3–2	Aug 2018	Canadian Open, Canada	Premier 5	Hard	Sloane Stephens	7–6^(8–6), 3–6, 6–4
Loss	3–3	Aug 2018	Cincinnati Open, USA	Premier 5	Hard	Kiki Bertens	6–2, 6–7⁶, 2–6

Earnings edit

The tournaments won by Halep are in boldface.

#	Tournament	Prize money	Year-to-date
1.	Shenzhen Open	US$163,260	$163,260
2.	Australian Open	A$2,000,000	$1,680,732
3.	Qatar Open	$147,750	$1,680,879
4.	Indian Wells Masters	$327,965	$2,008,844
5.	Miami Open	$47,170	$2,056,014
6.	Stuttgart Open	€16,411	$2,077,509
7.	Mutua Madrid Open	€149,390	$2,253,877
8.	Italian Open	€253,425	$2,568,124
9.	French Open	€2,200,000	$5,345,777
10.	Wimbledon Championships	£100,000	$5,483,511
11.	Rogers Cup	$521,825	$6,005,336
12.	Cincinnati Open	$243,920	$6,249,256
–	Connecticut Open	—	$6,249,256
13.	US Open	$	$
Total prize money			$6,249,256

Notes edit

^ Qatar Total Open was a Premier tournament in 2017.

References edit

^ "Rankings | Singles | WTA Tour". 14 May 2018.
^ Otto, Tyson; Matthey, James (21 January 2018). "Recap of Australian Open Day Six at Melbourne Park". News.com.au. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
^ "Halep handles Davis in Australian Open nailbiter". 20 January 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
^ Cambers, Simon (26 January 2018). "Halep and Wozniacki set for high-stakes Australian Open final after riding luck". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
^ Cambers, Simon (28 January 2018). "She lost the Aussie Open final, but all is well in Simona Halep's world". ESPN. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
^ "Kasatkina grounds Wozniacki again to reach Indian Wells QF". WTA Tennis. 14 March 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
^ "Halep beaten by Radwańska in Miami". BBC Sport.
^ Marica, Irina (2018-04-23). "Romania back to Fed Cup World Group after win against Switzerland". Romania Insider. Retrieved 2018-06-13.
^ "Stuttgart Open: Simona Halep loses to CoCo Vandeweghe". BBC Sport. 2018-04-27. Retrieved 2018-06-13.
^ Graham, Bryan Armen; (earlier), Tom Lutz (2018-06-09). "Simona Halep beats Sloane Stephens to win French Open title – live!". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
^ Hodges, Vicki (2018-06-09). "Simona Halep fights back from set and break down to end grand slam drought in Paris". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2018-06-09.

External links edit

Simona Halep at the Women's Tennis Association
Simona Halep at the International Tennis Federation
Simona Halep at the Billie Jean King Cup
Simona Halep at IMDb

[12] Qatar Total Open was a Premier tournament in 2017.

[1] "Rankings | Singles | WTA Tour". 14 May 2018.

[2] Otto, Tyson; Matthey, James (21 January 2018). "Recap of Australian Open Day Six at Melbourne Park". News.com.au. Retrieved 21 June 2018.

[3] "Halep handles Davis in Australian Open nailbiter". 20 January 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2018.

[4] Cambers, Simon (26 January 2018). "Halep and Wozniacki set for high-stakes Australian Open final after riding luck". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 June 2018.

[5] Cambers, Simon (28 January 2018). "She lost the Aussie Open final, but all is well in Simona Halep's world". ESPN. Retrieved 21 June 2018.

[6] "Kasatkina grounds Wozniacki again to reach Indian Wells QF". WTA Tennis. 14 March 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2018.

[7] "Halep beaten by Radwańska in Miami". BBC Sport.

[8] Marica, Irina (2018-04-23). "Romania back to Fed Cup World Group after win against Switzerland". Romania Insider. Retrieved 2018-06-13.

[9] "Stuttgart Open: Simona Halep loses to CoCo Vandeweghe". BBC Sport. 2018-04-27. Retrieved 2018-06-13.

[10] Graham, Bryan Armen; (earlier), Tom Lutz (2018-06-09). "Simona Halep beats Sloane Stephens to win French Open title – live!". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2018-06-09.

[11] Hodges, Vicki (2018-06-09). "Simona Halep fights back from set and break down to end grand slam drought in Paris". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2018-06-09.

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