If you are a big fan of tennis, you know who Simona Halep is. You also probably noticed how the American media doesn’t really hype her as much as it does with other sports personalities. But why is that so, when Simona Halep has proved to be one of the best tennis players in history?
Who is Simona Halep?
Simona Halep has been ranked at the top position twice (in 2017 and 2019). This puts her in a tie with Caroline Wozniacki, and one step away from equaling Martina Hinging. She spent 64 weeks at the top position in the WTA, which is the tenth longest in WTA’s history. Since 2014, she has never ranked lower than the fourth position.
Simona Halep also has the longest active streak of being placed in the top 10 and it doesn’t look like she’ll break the strike anytime soon. She has 20 WTA singles and two Grand Slam singles titles under her name, winning at the French Open in 2018 and the Wimbledon Championships in 2019.
The Queen of Tennis herself, Serena Williams, has acknowledged her as a worthy rival, calling her “brilliant”. With all those accolades and praise, you’d think Simona Halep would be a household name by now in the American mainstream, but, somehow, she is not. We are taking a look at why that may be.
She’s not the Amazon type
Simona Halep has a height of 5’6”, which makes her taller than your average woman, but, when compared to other players making an impact in the WTA in recent years, there is quite a difference. Maria Sharapova is 6’2”. Venus Williams, Ana Ivanovic, Victoria Azarenka, all pass the 6 feet threshold.
Serena Williams is just under 6 feet, at 5’9”, but her muscles make her look more imposing. Simona, on the other hand, is petite, compared to all these women. This could be a reason why, despite all her wins, she is still described as being the underdog whenever she enters a competition as if she hasn’t already proved she’s not the dark horse in the competition.
She has a thick accent
Simona is of Romanian origin and has spent most of her life there. Many Romanians her age speak English well, and she is no exception, as she’s understandable and engaging in her press conferences, coming across as very likable, especially thanks to her girl-next-door image. But, that also makes her look and sound … not very American.
You may think of Maria Sharapova, who is Russian, but she has actually spent the biggest part of her life in America. Bouchard doesn’t have that thick accent as she’s Canadian. Venus and Serena are American. This begs the question: had Simona been born in an anglophone region, would she be seen differently by the media and the public?
Not enough promo
Of course, we have to take into consideration the fact that she is not that promoted in the United States anyway. Tennis is only the sixth most popular sport in the US, after American football, baseball, basketball, ice hockey, and soccer, but just above golf, wrestling, motorsports, and badminton.
Looking at this list, with the exception of wrestling, maybe, as you go down the rankings, the average person will be able to name fewer and fewer people in their respective sports. This naturally makes the media report more on NFL players, and less on tennis players; and when they do, they focus on the already established ones.
You won’t find her reviewed by BBB magazine or interviewed by CNN, either.
Is she too likable?
For some reason, Americans have turned against celebrities that they consider to be “too likable” and “too relatable”, especially when it comes to women. Just ask Anne Hathaway, Taylor Swift, or Jennifer Lawrence, who found themselves receiving hate under the assumption that they can’t be really like that and are just pretending.
Even Michelle Obama has been in the media, as people were wondering “when will we see the real Michelle Obama?”, as they were expecting a sassy Black woman to pop out of her, as if all Black women need to act like that.
Being so likable, charismatic, and grounded may be the reason why the American media isn’t picking up on her, as, ironically, she’s not that big of a star to accuse her of being fake, because they failed to make her a star in the first place. But we’re sure Simona isn’t losing any sleep over not appearing in the American tabloids.
