Bucharest, Jan 15 (IANS): The Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee (COSR) named woman tennis player Simona Halep as the Athlete of the Year for the special results she obtained in 2014.

"Together with my colleagues in the executive committee we decided that Simona Halep deserves this distinction for her results in 2014. It was a great year for her. She represented Romania with great honour through her victories claimed in 2014," COSR president Alin Petrache was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

Petrache invited World No.3 Halep to be part of Romania's Olympic team for the 2016 Games in Rio and to bear the flag of the Romanian delegation.

Halep first broke into the world's top 50 at the end of 2012, then into the top 20 in August 2013, and then top 10 in January 2014.

Halep reached the 2014 French Open final, her first Grand Slam final, where she played against World No.2 Maria Sharapova. She lost this final in three sets. She also reached the final of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Finals the same year, but lost to World No.1 Serena Williams.

In the first half of January 2015, Halep participated at Shenzhen Open, winning the title against Timea Bacsinszky, her ninth WTA title.