Simona Halep wins Heart Award at Fed Cup

The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, world number three, won the Heart Award on Monday after her remarkable victory in the Czech Republic Fed Cup first round, according to the official website of the competition. Halep had their counter-candidates, following the World and World Group II matches, Latvian Anastasija Sevastova, Spanish Georgina Garcia-Perez and Australian Ashleigh Barty. Simona Halep was an inspiration for the Romanian team, who defeated the holders of the trophy, 3-2, its first home tie defeat in 10 years, in Ostrava on Sunday evening. The Romanian player decisively defeated Katerina Siniakova, 6-4 6-0, and then, in the second rubber, moved past former World Cup leader Karolina Pliskova in three sets, 6-4 5-7 6-4. Romania has qualified for the semifinals of the competition for the first time since it takes place according in the current format. Halep, who won the prize for the second time, will receive a 3,000 US dollar checque and the other winners 1,000 each.AGERPRES(RO - editor: Mihai Tenea; EN - author: Simona Iacob, editor: Maria Voican)