Romanian star tennis player Simona Halep, number 10 WTA, has been included among the 10 Future Stars in Sport by the magazine Eurosport Now.

The 10 young prospects were selected by a jury made of Eurosport’s commentators and pundits for Eurosport Now, the magazine which marks Eurosport's 25-year anniversary.

The Romanian shares the spot in the ranking with names such as Norwegian skier Henrik Kristoffersen, German biathlete Laura Dahlmeier and German ski jumping sensation Gianina Erns, English snooker player Shane Castle, American golfer Jordan Spieth Russian swimmer Daria Ustinova, Polish road cyclist Michal Kwiatkowski, triple jumper Ana Peleteiro from Spain and Brazilian footballer Neymar.

Simona Halep has cracked the top 10 best players in the world, moving up one spot in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings.

The promotion comes after Halep made her first quarterfinal appearance in a grand slam at the Australian Open, unfortunately going down to Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova, who finished as runner up.

Last year Halep was named Women’s Tennis Association’s Most Improved Player Of The Year.

Looking for a breakthrough, Halep went into Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome as a number 64 ranked qualifier in May last year.

She beat four of the game’s biggest names - Svetlana Kuznetsova, Agnieszka Radwanska, Roberta Vinci and Jelena Jankovic - before finally running out of gas against Serena Williams in the semifinals, shooting up to number 44.

What happened next was a breakthrough six months – Halep went 43-8 in her last 14 WTA main draws of the year, winning her first six WTA titles at Nürnberg, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Budapest, New Haven, Moscow and Sofia, and finishing No.11 on the November 4 year-end rankings.

Only two Romanians have ever made the Top 10 on the WTA, namely Virginia Ruzici, who got to No.8, and Irina Spirlea, who got to No.7.

editor@romania-insider.com