Simona Halep Loses World Number One Ranking

The semi-final line up of the Australian Open 2019 has been released on the WTA courts. The seven-time champion, Serena Williams wrestled against the World Number one, Simona Halep in the fourth round of the Melbourne major, however, Serena losing her quarterfinal match in a dramatic manner turned out to be one of the major upsets of the tournament. The two-time Wimbledon champion, Petra Kvitova’s remarkable run at the Australian major has put Halep’s pinnacle position on the WTA tour under a threat. Kvitova is yet to drop a set at the Australian Open 2019 and in the semi-final showdown she’ll take on the American, Danielle Collins who will be playing her first ever Grand Slam semi-final.

The other two ladies in the last four of the Australian Open 2019 are the 21-year-old Japanese, Naomi Osaka,  who won her 12th straight Grand Slam match against Elina Svitolina in the quarters and the World Number 8, Karolina Pliskova. Since three out of four women in the semi-final of the Melbourne major are inside the top ten rankings of the WTA, mathematically the probability of Halep dropping her apex status on the WTA list is a likely event, unless the World Number 35, Collins pulls off her premier major crown. The Romanian dwelled on the top spot for 48 weeks, however, he perceives WTA ranking isn’t her prime concern.

After her loss to Serena, Halep about the tactics which she will be following in the near future, “The main goal is just to play as good as I can every match, to win every match I play, so the ranking doesn’t really matter,” she mentioned. “End of the year is more important, the ranking, so I will not stress myself about this”. Before her fourth-round clash against Serena, she expressed her admiration towards the American, “In this moment, I’m number one in the world so I will take that. But for sure she’s the best player in the world”, said Halep.