Halep targets Slam breakthrough after rankings triumph
SINGAPORE: Simona Halep set her sights on breaking through for her first Grand Slam title on Sunday after securing the yearend world number one ranking — and a vote of confidence from Roger Federer.
The Romanian became the 13th year- end women’s number one despite struggling at the WTA Finals in Singapore, winning just once to bow out at the round-robin stage.
Halep was officially recognised with the end- of-year trophy and a sparkling new ring on Sunday.
Halep reached the top ranking for the first time earlier this month and narrowly held on when world number three Karolina Pliskova lost her semi-final in Singapore.
Her next challenge is a maiden Grand Slam win. Halep came desperately close in this year’s French Open final, when she blew a set and 3- 0 lead against 20-yearold Jelena Ostapenko.
“Of course, my new dream is to win a Grand Slam,” she told reporters in Singapore. “I just want to work harder to get better, because I need to do that and we will see what is going to happen.”
Halep admitted it would be a challenge to stay at world number one, a position which has been occupied by five different players this year. “I have to work harder to stay there,” she said.
“I can imagine that it’s going to be a little bit more difficult. Every tournament, every day is going to be a big challenge, starting now.” — AFP