2020 Simona Halep tennis season

The 2020 Simona Halep tennis season officially began on 5 January 2020 at the Adelaide International. Simona Halep entered the season as the No.4 ranked player in the world and finished the year ranked as the No. 2 ranked player in the world and with the most titles alongside Aryna Sabalenka during the season, winning a total of 3 WTA titles.^[2][3] Throughout the season, she achieved a new personal record with a 17-match winning streak, commencing from the Dubai Championships, surpassing her previous performance of 15 consecutive victories dating back to early 2015. ^[4] By the end of the 2020 season, she registered 23 wins and three losses.

2020 Simona Halep tennis season

Simona Halep at the 2019 Sydney International
Full name	Simona Halep
Country	Romania
Calendar prize money	$1.94 million
Singles
Season record	23–3
Calendar titles	3
Current ranking	No. 2[1]
Year-end ranking	2
Ranking change from previous year	2
Grand Slam & significant results
Australian Open	SF
French Open	4R
Wimbledon	NH
US Open	A
Other tournaments
Doubles
Calendar titles	0
Ranking change from previous year
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	A
French Open	A
Wimbledon	A
US Open	A
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open	A
French Open	A
Wimbledon	A
US Open	A
Last updated on: 16 March 2023.

Main article: Simona Halep

Singles matches

Tournament	Match	Round	Opponent	Rank	Result	Score
Adelaide International Adelaide, Australia WTA Premier Hard, outdoor 13–18 January 2020	–	1R	Bye
	1	2R	Ajla Tomljanović	52	Win	6–4, 7–5
	2	QF	Aryna Sabalenka	13	Loss	4–6, 2–6
Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam Hard, outdoor 20 January – 2 February 2020
	3	1R	Jennifer Brady	193	Win	7–6(7–5), 6–1
	4	2R	Harriet Dart (Q)	112	Win	6–2, 6–4
	5	3R	Yulia Putintseva	76	Win	6–1, 6–4
	6	4R	Elise Mertens (16)	16	Win	6–4, 6–4
	7	QF	Anett Kontaveit (28)	28	Win	6–1, 6–1
	8	SF	Garbiñe Muguruza	32	Loss	6–7(8-10), 5–7
Dubai Tennis Championships Dubai, United Arab Emirates WTA Premier Hard, outdoor 17–22 February 2020[5]	–	1R	Bye
	9	2R	Ons Jabeur (WC)	45	Win	1–6, 6–2, 7–6(9-7)
	10	QF	Aryna Sabalenka (7)	13	Win	3–6, 6–2, 6–2
	11	SF	Jennifer Brady (Q)	52	Win	6–2, 6–0
	12	W	Elena Rybakina (SE)	19	Win (1)	3–6, 6–3, 7–6(7-5)
Prague Open Prague, Czech Republic WTA International Clay, outdoor 10–16 August 2020
	13	1R	Polona Hercog	46	Win	6–1, 1–6, 7–6(7-4)
	14	2R	Barbora Krejčíková (WC)	118	Win	3−6, 7–5, 6–2
	15	QF	Magdalena Fręch (LL)	174	Win	6–2, 6–0
	16	SF	Irina-Camelia Begu	82	Win	7–6(7-2), 6–3
	17	W	Elise Mertens (3)	23	Win (2)	6–2, 7–5
Italian Open Rome, Italy WTA Premier 5 Clay, outdoor 14 – 21 September 2020
	–	1R	Bye
	18	2R	Jasmine Paolini (WC)	99	Win	6–3, 6–4
	19	3R	Dayana Yastremska	29	Win	7–5, 6–4
	20	QF	Yulia Putintseva	30	Win	6–2, 2-0 ret.
	21	SF	Garbiñe Muguruza (9)	17	Win	6–3, 4–6, 6–4
	22	W	Karolína Plíšková (2)	4	Win (3)	6–0, 2–1 ret.
French Open Paris, France Grand Slam Clay, outdoor 27 September – 11 October 2020	23	1R	Sara Sorribes Tormo	70	Win	6–4, 6–0
	24	2R	Irina-Camelia Begu	73	Win	6–3, 6–4
	25	3R	Amanda Anisimova (25)	29	Win	6–0, 6–1
	26	4R	Iga Świątek	54	Loss	1–6, 2–6

Tournament schedule

Singles schedule

Halep's 2020 singles schedule was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, participating in only six tournaments: 2 Grand Slams and 4 WTA-tour level tournaments. Nevertheless, she clinched titles in half of these tournaments.

Date	Championship	Location	Category	Surface	2019 result	2019 points	2020 points	Outcome
13 January – 18 January	Adelaide International	Adelaide	Premier	Hard	NH	0	100	Quarterfinals lost to Aryna Sabalenka 4–6, 2–6
20 January – 1 February	Australian Open	Melbourne	Grand Slam	Hard	4R	240	780	Semifinals lost to Garbiñe Muguruza 6–7(8–10), 5–7
17 February – 22 February	Dubai Tennis Championships	Dubai	Premier[lower-alpha 1]	Hard	QF	190	470	Winner defeated Elena Rybakina 3−6, 6−3, 7–6(7–5)
23 February – 29 February	Qatar Open	Doha	Premier 5[lower-alpha 2]	Hard	F	305	0	Withdrew due to fatigue [6]
9 March – 22 March	BNP Paribas Open	Indian Wells	Premier Mandatory	Hard	4R	120	0	Withdrew due to right foot injury, tournament cancellation [7][8]
10 August – 16 August	Prague Open	Prague	International	Clay	DNP	0	280	Winner defeated Elise Mertens 6−2, 7−5
14 September – 21 September	Italian Open	Rome	Premier 5	Clay	2R	1	900	Winner defeated Karolína Plíšková 6–0, 2–1 ret.
27 September – 10 October	French Open	Paris	Grand Slam	Clay	QF	430	240	Fourth round lost to Iga Świątek 1–6, 2–6
Road to the WTA Finals points						4962	2770	2192 difference
Total year-end points						5461	7255	1794 difference

Yearly records

Finals

Singles: 3 (3 titles)

Legend Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) WTA Tour Championships (0–0) Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (1–0) Premier (1–0) International (1–0)

Finals by surface Hard (1–0) Clay (2–0) Grass (0–0)

Titles by setting Outdoors (3–0) Indoors (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Feb 2020	Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE	Premier	Hard	Elena Rybakina	3−6, 6−3, 7–6(7–5)
Win	2–0	Aug 2020	Prague Open, Czech Republic	International	Clay	Elise Mertens	6–2, 7–5
Win	3–0	Sep 2020	Italian Open, Italy	Premier 5	Clay	Karolína Plíšková	6–0, 2–1 ret.

Top 10 wins

#	Player	Rank	Tournament	Surface	Round	Score	SHR
1.	Karolína Plíšková	4	Italian Open, Rome, Italy	Clay	Final	6–0, 2–1 ret.	2

Head-to-head matchups

Surface	Win–loss	Win%
Hard	10–2	83.33%
Clay	13–1	92.86%
Grass	0–0	–
Overall	23–3	88.46%

Players are ordered by letter. (Bold denotes a top 10 player at the time of the most recent match during 2020, Italic denotes top 50.)

• Elise Mertens 2–0
• Irina-Camelia Begu 2–0
• Jennifer Brady 2–0
• Yulia Putintseva 2–0
• Ajla Tomljanović 1–0
• Amanda Anisimova 1–0
• Anett Kontaveit 1–0
• Barbora Krejčíková 1–0
• Dayana Yastremska 1–0
• Elena Rybakina 1–0
• Harriet Dart 1-0
• Jasmine Paolini 1–0
• Karolína Plíšková 1–0
• Magdalena Fręch 1–0
• Ons Jabeur 1–0
• Polona Hercog 1–0
• Sara Sorribes Tormo 1–0
• Aryna Sabalenka 1–1
• Garbiñe Muguruza 1–1
• Iga Świątek 0–1

Notes

1. Dubai Tennis Championships was a Premier 5 tournament in 2019.
2. Qatar Total Open was a Premier tournament in 2019.

References

1. "Rankings | Singles | WTA Tour". 19 December 2020.
2. "Simona Halep ranking".
3. "Simona Halep's 2020 season in perspective". Tennis Majors.
4. "Halep's streak extends to 17 wins in a row". CNN.
5. "Dubai: Simona Halep wins Dubai Championships over Elena Rybakina". BBC Sports.
6. "Simona Halep Takes Break Before Sunshine Double". EssenciallySports.
7. "Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber withdraw from BNP Paribas Open". Desert Sun.
8. "Tennis in turmoil after Indian Wells cancelled due to coronavirus fears". The Guardian.