Simona Halep, 26, is set to become the 25th world No. 1 in the WTA history and the first Romanian tennis player to achieve the summit. It's the highlight of her career and the achievement is even more special as it occurred toward the end of a week that put Halep in the spotlight once more. The last Premier Mandatory event of the season has turned into a place of retribution Halep who cast out some of her recent demons.
Whether it was about Maria Sharapova, Daria Kasatkina or Jelena Ostapenko, her opponents didn't stand a chance against a near-to-perfect display of tennis. When the ranking is updated on Monday, Halep will surpass the current world No. 1 Garbine Muguruza.
Jelena Ostapenko as a long-lasting nightmare for Halep
Earlier this year, a young Latvian, Jelena Ostaneko, stormed into her first ever Grand Slam final at the 2017 french open. With Simona Halep eager to cap a huge clay court season, Ostapenko seemed an easy pick. A set and 3-0 down, the Latvian saved a couple of break points to start building her way up to the surface.
In what was a tremendous comeback, she went on winning the next two sets to kill off Halep's second French Open title bid.
The Romanian has navigated through the summer in the vicinity of the world No. 1, each time failing to add an extra win to reach the summit. The fourth attempt proved to be the luckiest. With Svitolina losing in the quarterfinals to Caroline Garcia, Halep needed to reach the final in order to get past Muguruza.
Halep dominated the match playing a smart and aggressive game from the baseline
On the other side, Jelena Ostapenko was playing her third consecutive semifinal in Asia trying to reach her first Premier Mandatory final in the process. But Halep played firmly and left almost nothing for her opponent to work with.
A solid first set won by 6-2 put the second seed in front. The second act saw Halep breaking Ostapenko's serve for a 3-2 lead. The 20-year-old bounced back to level the score and managed to get her nose in front after a solid service game. But that was Halep's only moment of disarray. She increased the depth of her returns which proved to be crucial as Ostapenko was unable to produce those outstanding winners. An icy Halep served out the match at the end of a solid game on her own terms, converting the first match point she had.
In what's been one of the most unpredictable seasons in the WTA circuit, Simona Halep has become the fifth player who reached the world No.1 in 2017. One by one, Serena Williams, Angelique Kerber, Karolina Pliskova and Garbine Muguruza were there too.