# 2020 Simona Halep tennis season

The 2020 Simona Halep tennis season officially began on 5 January 2020 at the Adelaide International. Simona Halep entered the season as the No.4 ranked player in the world and finished the year ranked as the No. 2 ranked player in the world and with the most titles alongside Aryna Sabalenka during the season, winning a total of 3 WTA titles. Throughout the season, she achieved a new personal record with a 17-match winning streak, commencing from the Dubai Championships, surpassing her previous performance of 15 consecutive victories dating back to early 2015. By the end of the 2020 season, she registered 23 wins and three losses.

## Singles matches

| Tournament | Match | Round | Opponent | Rank | Result | Score |
| Adelaide International Adelaide, Australia WTA Premier Hard, outdoor 13–18 January 2020 | – | 1R | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| Adelaide International Adelaide, Australia WTA Premier Hard, outdoor 13–18 January 2020 | 1 | 2R | Ajla Tomljanović | 52 | Win | 6–4, 7–5 |
| Adelaide International Adelaide, Australia WTA Premier Hard, outdoor 13–18 January 2020 | 2 | QF | Aryna Sabalenka | 13 | Loss | 4–6, 2–6 |
| Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam Hard, outdoor 20 January – 2 February 2020 |
| Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam Hard, outdoor 20 January – 2 February 2020 | 3 | 1R | Jennifer Brady | 193 | Win | 7–6$^{(7–5)}$, 6–1 |
| Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam Hard, outdoor 20 January – 2 February 2020 | 4 | 2R | Harriet Dart (Q) | 112 | Win | 6–2, 6–4 |
| Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam Hard, outdoor 20 January – 2 February 2020 | 5 | 3R | Yulia Putintseva | 76 | Win | 6–1, 6–4 |
| Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam Hard, outdoor 20 January – 2 February 2020 | 6 | 4R | Elise Mertens (16) | 16 | Win | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam Hard, outdoor 20 January – 2 February 2020 | 7 | QF | Anett Kontaveit (28) | 28 | Win | 6–1, 6–1 |
| Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam Hard, outdoor 20 January – 2 February 2020 | 8 | SF | Garbiñe Muguruza | 32 | Loss | 6–7$^{(8-10)}$, 5–7 |
| Dubai Tennis Championships Dubai, United Arab Emirates WTA Premier Hard, outdoor 17–22 February 2020 | – | 1R | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| Dubai Tennis Championships Dubai, United Arab Emirates WTA Premier Hard, outdoor 17–22 February 2020 | 9 | 2R | Ons Jabeur (WC) | 45 | Win | 1–6, 6–2, 7–6$^{(9-7)}$ |
| Dubai Tennis Championships Dubai, United Arab Emirates WTA Premier Hard, outdoor 17–22 February 2020 | 10 | QF | Aryna Sabalenka (7) | 13 | Win | 3–6, 6–2, 6–2 |
| Dubai Tennis Championships Dubai, United Arab Emirates WTA Premier Hard, outdoor 17–22 February 2020 | 11 | SF | Jennifer Brady (Q) | 52 | Win | 6–2, 6–0 |
| Dubai Tennis Championships Dubai, United Arab Emirates WTA Premier Hard, outdoor 17–22 February 2020 | 12 | W | Elena Rybakina (SE) | 19 | Win (1) | 3–6, 6–3, 7–6$^{(7-5)}$ |
| Prague Open Prague, Czech Republic WTA International Clay, outdoor 10–16 August 2020 |
| Prague Open Prague, Czech Republic WTA International Clay, outdoor 10–16 August 2020 | 13 | 1R | Polona Hercog | 46 | Win | 6–1, 1–6, 7–6$^{(7-4)}$ |
| Prague Open Prague, Czech Republic WTA International Clay, outdoor 10–16 August 2020 | 14 | 2R | Barbora Krejčíková (WC) | 118 | Win | 3−6, 7–5, 6–2 |
| Prague Open Prague, Czech Republic WTA International Clay, outdoor 10–16 August 2020 | 15 | QF | Magdalena Fręch (LL) | 174 | Win | 6–2, 6–0 |
| Prague Open Prague, Czech Republic WTA International Clay, outdoor 10–16 August 2020 | 16 | SF | Irina-Camelia Begu | 82 | Win | 7–6$^{(7-2)}$, 6–3 |
| Prague Open Prague, Czech Republic WTA International Clay, outdoor 10–16 August 2020 | 17 | W | Elise Mertens (3) | 23 | Win (2) | 6–2, 7–5 |
| Italian Open Rome, Italy WTA Premier 5 Clay, outdoor 14 – 21 September 2020 |
| Italian Open Rome, Italy WTA Premier 5 Clay, outdoor 14 – 21 September 2020 | – | 1R | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| Italian Open Rome, Italy WTA Premier 5 Clay, outdoor 14 – 21 September 2020 | 18 | 2R | Jasmine Paolini (WC) | 99 | Win | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Italian Open Rome, Italy WTA Premier 5 Clay, outdoor 14 – 21 September 2020 | 19 | 3R | Dayana Yastremska | 29 | Win | 7–5, 6–4 |
| Italian Open Rome, Italy WTA Premier 5 Clay, outdoor 14 – 21 September 2020 | 20 | QF | Yulia Putintseva | 30 | Win | 6–2, 2-0 ret. |
| Italian Open Rome, Italy WTA Premier 5 Clay, outdoor 14 – 21 September 2020 | 21 | SF | Garbiñe Muguruza (9) | 17 | Win | 6–3, 4–6, 6–4 |
| Italian Open Rome, Italy WTA Premier 5 Clay, outdoor 14 – 21 September 2020 | 22 | W | Karolína Plíšková (2) | 4 | Win (3) | 6–0, 2–1 ret. |
| French Open Paris, France Grand Slam Clay, outdoor 27 September – 11 October 2020 | 23 | 1R | Sara Sorribes Tormo | 70 | Win | 6–4, 6–0 |
| French Open Paris, France Grand Slam Clay, outdoor 27 September – 11 October 2020 | 24 | 2R | Irina-Camelia Begu | 73 | Win | 6–3, 6–4 |
| French Open Paris, France Grand Slam Clay, outdoor 27 September – 11 October 2020 | 25 | 3R | Amanda Anisimova (25) | 29 | Win | 6–0, 6–1 |
| French Open Paris, France Grand Slam Clay, outdoor 27 September – 11 October 2020 | 26 | 4R | Iga Świątek | 54 | Loss | 1–6, 2–6 |

## Tournament schedule
### Singles schedule

Halep's 2020 singles schedule was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, participating in only six tournaments: 2 Grand Slams and 4 WTA-tour level tournaments. Nevertheless, she clinched titles in half of these tournaments.
| Date | Championship | Location | Category | Surface | 2019 result | 2019 points | 2020 points | Outcome |
| 13 January – 18 January | Adelaide International | Adelaide | Premier | Hard | NH | 0 | 100 | Quarterfinals lost to Aryna Sabalenka 4–6, 2–6 |
| 20 January – 1 February | Australian Open | Melbourne | Grand Slam | Hard | 4R | 240 | 780 | Semifinals lost to Garbiñe Muguruza 6–7$^{(8–10)}$, 5–7 |
| 17 February – 22 February | Dubai Tennis Championships | Dubai | Premier | Hard | QF | 190 | 470 | Winner defeated Elena Rybakina 3−6, 6−3, 7–6$^{(7–5)}$ |
| 23 February – 29 February | Qatar Open | Doha | Premier 5 | Hard | F | 305 | 0 | Withdrew due to fatigue |
| 9 March – 22 March | BNP Paribas Open | Indian Wells | Premier Mandatory | Hard | 4R | 120 | 0 | Withdrew due to right foot injury, tournament cancellation |
| 10 August – 16 August | Prague Open | Prague | International | Clay | DNP | 0 | 280 | Winner defeated Elise Mertens 6−2, 7−5 |
| 14 September – 21 September | Italian Open | Rome | Premier 5 | Clay | 2R | 1 | 900 | Winner defeated Karolína Plíšková 6–0, 2–1 ret. |
| 27 September – 10 October | French Open | Paris | Grand Slam | Clay | QF | 430 | 240 | Fourth round lost to Iga Świątek 1–6, 2–6 |
| Road to the WTA Finals points | Road to the WTA Finals points | Road to the WTA Finals points | Road to the WTA Finals points | Road to the WTA Finals points | Road to the WTA Finals points | 4962 | 2770 | 2192 difference |
| Total year-end points | Total year-end points | Total year-end points | Total year-end points | Total year-end points | Total year-end points | 5461 | 7255 | 1794 difference |

## Yearly records
### Finals

Singles: 3 (3 titles)
* Legend
* Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
* WTA Tour Championships (0–0)
* Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (1–0)
* Premier (1–0)
* International (1–0)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (1–0)
* Clay (2–0)
* Grass (0–0)
* Titles by setting
* Outdoors (3–0)
* Indoors (0–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | Feb 2020 | Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE | Premier | Hard | Elena Rybakina | 3−6, 6−3, 7–6$^{(7–5)}$ |
| Win | 2–0 | Aug 2020 | Prague Open, Czech Republic | International | Clay | Elise Mertens | 6–2, 7–5 |
| Win | 3–0 | Sep 2020 | Italian Open, Italy | Premier 5 | Clay | Karolína Plíšková | 6–0, 2–1 ret. |

### Top 10 wins

| # | Player | Rank | Tournament | Surface | Round | Score | SHR |
| 1. | Karolína Plíšková | 4 | Italian Open, Rome, Italy | Clay | Final | 6–0, 2–1 ret. | 2 |

### Head-to-head matchups

| Surface | Win–loss | Win% |
| Hard | 10–2 | 83.33% |
| Clay | 13–1 | 92.86% |
| Grass | 0–0 | – |
| Overall | 23–3 | 88.46% |
Players are ordered by letter. (Bold denotes a top 10 player at the time of the most recent match during 2020, Italic denotes top 50.)
* Elise Mertens 2–0
* Irina-Camelia Begu 2–0
* Jennifer Brady 2–0
* Yulia Putintseva 2–0
* Ajla Tomljanović 1–0
* Amanda Anisimova 1–0
* Anett Kontaveit 1–0
* Barbora Krejčíková 1–0
* Dayana Yastremska 1–0
* Elena Rybakina 1–0
* Harriet Dart 1-0
* Jasmine Paolini 1–0
* Karolína Plíšková 1–0
* Magdalena Fręch 1–0
* Ons Jabeur 1–0
* Polona Hercog 1–0
* Sara Sorribes Tormo 1–0
* Aryna Sabalenka 1–1
* Garbiñe Muguruza 1–1
* Iga Świątek 0–1