Simona Halep presented the Wimbledon trophy on the National Arena in front of 20,000 fans

Tennis player Simona Halep, 4th WTA, presented on Wednesday the Wimbledon trophy, the second Grand Slam trophy of her career after Roland Garros, at a ceremony held at the National Arena in the presence of about 20,000 Bucharest citizens.

Young people, parents with children came to the country’s largest stadium to make a warm welcome to the first tennis player in the history of Romania who has won on the grass courts in London.

Simona Halep was welcomed by 12 great Romanian athletes: Ilie Năstase, Gheorghe Popescu, Marius Urzică, Diana Bulimar, Gabriela Szabo, Ionela Tîrlea, Monica Roşu, Mihai Leu, Marian Drăgulescu, Paula Ivan, Alina Dumitru and Doina Melinte.

The fans applauded for minutes, waving national flags and chanting her name on several occasions. They chanted “Simona, Simona” and “Simona, we love you!”

“You have made me great joy to see you tonight, to share this trophy, because it is ours, the country’s, first of all first. It is a special evening for me. I’m inspired by these great Romanian champions who came with me tonight. It’s an honor to have you around , to share this joy with all of you. Thank you to Romania because I was born here and here I want to live my life. I want to share this part of my trophy with my mother because it was her dream to win at Wimbledon,” Halep told the fans.

At the ceremony where public access was free, Andra sang the Romanian anthem, while on the giant screens installed on the stage, images were displayed from the Wimbledon final won by Simona Halep against Serena Williams.

Among the sports personalities in the stands were Gheorghe Hagi, Loredana Dinu, George Cosac, while Nadia Comăneci, Camelia Potec, Nicu Vlad and Ana Maria Brânză sent video messages that could be watched on the screens of the National Arena.

The President of the Romanian Tennis Federation, Ion Ţiriac, commented with Simona Halep on the most important moments of the final against Serena Williams, and soloists Irina Baiantz and Andrei Lazar played a song dedicated to the Romanian player.