Women's tennis: 4 key takeaways from the 2018 WTA season

Best player of 2018 - Simona Halep

Simona Halep with the 2018 French Open trophy

Romanian Simona Halep began the year ranked No. 1 in the WTA rankings and finished the year at the same spot despite pulling out of the 2018 WTA Finals due to injury.

Halep started the Australian Open as the favorite for the first time in her career. She beat Naomi Osaka, Karolina Pliskova and Angelique Kerber en-route to the final. She was involved in 2 of the best matches of 2018.

Her match with Lauren Davis saw her win 15-13 in the 3rd set in a match that lasted 3 hours and 45 minutes - the second longest in Australian Open history. Halep saved two match points against 2016 champion Angelique Kerber in the semis and lost in a tight 3-set battle to Caroline Wozniacki in the final.

She lost her Number 1 ranking to Wozniacki after her defeat but regained it just a month later.

Bothered by a foot injury and losses in quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals in the WTA tournaments succeeding the Australian Open, Halep was low in confidence going into the French Open despite being the top-ranked player.

At the French Open, she again managed to beat former World Number 1 Angelique Kerber in a tight 3-set contest and became the first Romanian since Virginia Ruzici in 1978 to win a Grand Slam title. Despite losing the first set to Sloane Stephens in her 3rd final at Roland Garros, Halep turned it around to lift the trophy.

Halep's 3rd title of the year came at the Montreal Open where she again triumphed over Sloane Stephens in the final. Despite losing in the first round of the US Open to Kaia Kanepi and not featuring in any match after the US Open, Halep maintained her top ranking as she made the finals of more tournaments than any other player during the year and earned more prize money than anyone else as well.

Halep will be looking to go one step further at the 2019 Australian Open by winning her second Grand Slam and become the only Romanian woman to win multiple Grand Slam tournaments.