Romania’s tennis star Simona Halep has qualified into the quarterfinals of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy on Wednesday, after a 6-4, 7-6 (2) win over Croatian Ana Konjuh.

In the quarterfinal match, the Romanian will play against the winner of the match between Russians Natalia Vikhlyantseva and Daria Kasatkina.

Halep ranks fourth in the WTA ranking of best women's tennis players in the world, after American Serena Williams, German Angelique Kerber, the Czech Karolina Pliskova.

Simona Halep also played in the Australian Open this year, but she was defeated by American player Shelby Rogers in the first round. It was the second straight first-round loss at this tournament for Halep, as she also was also eliminated at the same stage last year, by Chinese Zhang Shuai.

Romanian Simona Halep and her coach, other athletes do the Mannequin Challenge

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com