Romania’s tennis ace Simona Halep qualified on Thursday, August 14, in the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati WTA tournament. She beat Czech Lucie Safarova in two sets ended 6-4, 7-5.

Halep will play against Russia’s Maria Sharapova, who also made it in the quarterfinals after a 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) win against Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Halep previously played against Sharapova at the beginning of June this year, in the final of the French Open in Roland Garros, her first grand slam final. However, she lost that final to the Russian player.

Simona Halep has moved up one place in the WTA ranking at the beginning of this week, reaching number 2. This is the best ever ranking for a Romanian female tennis player.

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