Romanian tennis star Simona Halep, who is still number two in the WTA ranking of the best women’s tennis players in the world, will play her first match against Russian Maria Sharapova (currently no. 3 WTA) in more than a year, on Tuesday, October 27, at the WTA Finals in Singapore.

Halep won her first match in Singapore on Saturday, taking her revenge against Italy’s Flavia Pennetta, this year’s surprise US Open winner, after Pennetta beat Halep in the semifinals of the tournament at Flushing Meadows. The Romanian showed a good form and ended the match quickly, losing just three games (6-0, 6-3).

Maria Sharapova also started with a victory in Singapore, beating Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska after a nearly three-hour match. The Russian fought her way from behind on Sunday, stealing a three-set victory (4-6, 6-3, 6-4).

Halep will be happy to see her opponent more tired after the long opening match, as she needs all the help she can get to get her revenge on Sharapova, who beat her three times last year, two of which in tournament finals (Madrid and Roland Garros). Their latest match was in August last year in Cincinnati when Sharapova won in three sets: 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Simona Halep is the main favorite of this year’s WTA Finals in Singapore, as the world’s number one player Serena Williams didn’t enter the competition. The tournament brings together the world’s best ranked 8 players who play against each other in two groups of four. The first two players in each group move forwards to the tournament’s semifinals.

Last year, Simona Halep made it to the final in Singapore, after beating Serena Williams in the group stage. However, Serena took her revenge in the final and beat the Romanian to claim the trophy.

editor@romania-insider.com