Simona Halep: World No.1

On the fourth time of asking, Simona Halep finally did it.  The 26-year-old is set to become the 25th WTA World No.1 when the rankings are released on Monday, after a week in Beijing that saw her avenge two devasting 2017 losses, earning her first win over Maria Sharapova, who beat her in the first round at the US Open, and avenging her French Open defeat to Jelena Ostapenko to clinch the No.1 ranking.  Halep sat down with Courtney Nguyen after her semifinal win at the China Open to reflect on a season that has seen the best of times and the worst of times for the hard-working Romanian. From her shocking temporary split with coach Darren Cahill after the Miami Open, her crushing loss to Ostapenko in Paris, to the lessons learned from her seventh-straight loss to Sharapova, Halep vowed to become a better player and person after every hard-learned lesson.  And that's why she'll sit at No.1 on Monday.  Subscribe to the WTA Insider Podcast on iTunes and Stitcher and get new episodes delivered straight to your podcast app of choice.