An Overview of Simona Halep's Tenins Career

Deborah Henson-Moody leads a physically active lifestyle. She enjoys a number of sports and outdoor activities, including basketball and tennis. Deborah Henson-Moody also follows professional tennis. Her favorite player is Simona Halep.

Romanian tennis player Simona Halep joined the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) professional tour in 2006 at the age of 14. Halep made slow but steady progress as a young player, gradually improving her ranking to the top 50. In 2013, Halep enjoyed her most successful season, securing six WTA titles. She also reached the fourth round of the US Open, her best result at a major at that point, and finished the year ranked a career-best No. 11.

The 23-year-old took another giant leap in 2013. Entering the season with a 10-14 record at the Grand Slam level, Halep went on to reach the quarter finals of the Australian Open, improving on her US Open showing several months earlier. At Roland Garros, Halep progressed to the women’s final, falling to Maria Sharapova in three tight sets. Unfazed by her newfound success, Halep moved on to Wimbledon and advanced to the semifinals. She lost in the third round of the US Open, finishing the year with a 17-4 mark at Grand Slam events and three titles.

At the 2014 WTA Tour Finals, Halep scored arguably the biggest victory of her career, defeating world No. 1 Serena Williams 6-0, 6-2, matching the fewest games Williams had ever won as a professional. Halep reached the finals of the year-end event, but this time lost to Williams. Halep experienced further success in 2015, achieving the No. 2 ranking, winning three titles, and making the quarters and semis of the Australian Open and US Open, respectively.

Simona Halep - An Emerging Force in Women’s Singles Tennis

A longtime California resident, Deborah Henson-Moody is an avid soccer fan who follows Real Madrid. Also a tennis enthusiast, Deborah Henson-Moody is a particular supporter of the Romanian pro Simona Halep.

Currently ranked second in the world in women’s singles tennis, Halep broke out in 2008 with a victory in the Roland Garros junior singles championship. Three years later, Halep earned her first victory against a top-20 competitor when she defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in Toronto. Having sprained her ankle, she was matched against Li Na, then the reigning Roland Garros champion, in the first round. Halep made headlines by causing Na to make unforced errors with her aggressive style and sent 6th-seeded Na home earlier than expected.

Halep earned her first Women’s Tennis Association title in Nuremberg in 2013 and followed that with a grass-court victory in Hertogenbosch. Her third title in that breakthrough year occurred in Budapest, and she went on to take six titles in 2013, second only to Serena Williams, who won 11 titles. Halep first reached a Grand Slam final at the French Open in 2014. She lost to Maria Sharapova in a closely contested match that lasted more than three hours. In 2015, Halep’s highest Grand Slam showing was in the U.S. Open, where she made it to the semifinal round.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the Victims of Crime Act

A member of the International Association for Volunteer Effort, Deborah Henson-Moody participates in a number of humanitarian efforts and is a registered organ donor. Deborah Henson-Moody also supports Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), which helps victims of intoxication-related accidents through the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA).

Congress enacted the Victims of Crime Act in 1984 and established the Crime Victims Fund to help organizations like MADD develop assistance and compensation programs for victims of violent crime. The act also enabled the Crime Victims Fund to procure money for victim support from criminal fines, forfeited bail bonds, and other monetary penalties that do not contribute to the national debt. Victim compensation programs offer direct reimbursement for medical costs, lost wages, and funeral and burial expenses. Furthermore, grants for victim assistance and compensation programs are available to organizations nationwide, although grant eligibility criteria may vary from state to state.

Funds provided by VOCA grants allow MADD to aid victims in several states across the country. In 2014, the organization assisted over 63,000 victims of drunk and drugged driving-related incidents. Despite the decrease in such crimes in the last 30 years, MADD still relies on the Crime Victims Fund to help victims of drunk driving and encourages the public to express its support of VOCA funding.

For more information about victim assistance and compensation, as well as other resources provided by MADD, visit the organization’s victim services page at www.madd.org/victim-services.