Over 20,000 people gathered on Wednesday (July 15) evening on Bucharest’s National Arena to applaud tennis star Simona Halep for her first Wimbledon title, Mediafax reported.

Among those who attended the event were also some of Romania’s biggest sports personalities, including legendary footballer Gheorghe Hagi, former tennis player and billionaire Ion Tiriac, Olympic athlete Gabriela Szabo, boxing champion Mihai Leu, rowing champion Elisabeta Lipa.

Halep presented a replica of the trophy to the fans and held a speech in which she thanked all of her coaches and her manager Virginia Ruzici. She also thanked Ilie Nastase and Ion Tiriac.

"I thank Romania and I hope to live here all my life,” she said. Then, Ion Tiriac challenged her to relive together through the most important moments of the Wimbledon final against former number one Serena Williams.

Simona Halep is the first Romanian to ever win the Wimbledon singles title. She also won the Roland Garros title in 2018 and was the first Romanian who reached the number one position in the WTA ranking of the best women’s tennis players in the world, in 2017 and 2018.

(Photo: Simona Halep Facebook Page)

editor@romania-insider.com