If you look only at Halep’s ranking, 2015 was a banner year for the smooth-hitting Romanian. She won a top-level tournament in Indian Wells, reached the semifinals at the US Open and emerged as Serena Williams’ closest competitor. At 24, with her prime still ahead of her, the experts will tell you that it’s only a matter of time before Halep breaks through and wins a major title.
But are the experts right? Last season, when it came to the biggest events and the toughest competition, Halep’s results didn’t always keep pace with her ranking or reputation. At the Slams, she went out in the second round at the French Open and in the first round at Wimbledon. And despite being the top seed, she made an early exit from the WTA Finals. While Halep went 49–17, she was just 5–7 against Top 10 opponents. Halep is still new at the high-expectations game—at the start of 2013, she had barely cracked the Top 50.
Few players are as gifted or dynamic as Halep, but those gifts lead her to demand even more from herself. Ever the perfectionist, Halep quickly gets negative when she fails to meet her own sizable expectations. In the women’s game, Grand Slam titles invariably go to strong players who can take matters into their own hands with raw, put-away power. No matter how skilled the 5'6" Halep is, it will always be an uphill battle.
Halep’s erratic results from last season could be chalked up to the learning experience that every champion must go through. With Williams turning 35 and Maria Sharapova turning 29 this year, the Slams could be open to a new generation, and Halep is its most talented member.
Halep’s fellow middleweights Agnieszka Radwanska, Caroline Wozniacki and Jelena Jankovic are but three talented players who have reached major finals but never won one. Will Halep, who wins with combinations rather than knockout blows, and who has trouble taking a punch, follow in their footsteps?
Halep is the No. 2 player on tour and entering her prime, but she needs to be more proactive during points—and more resilient between them—to take the next step.
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