Angelique Kerber:

Kerber began her professional tennis career in 2003. She was unseeded ranked number 92 in the world and 23-years-old at the 2011 US Open, but that did not faze her as she reached the semifinals for the first time at a major tournament.

In the semifinal, Kerber went down to Australian and world number nine at the time Sam Stosur and winner of the US Open that year. It is from here that Kerber started to rise to the top as she had never made it past the third round of a grand slam.

To top it all off she caused massive upsets over Polish number 12 seed Agnieszka Radwanska and Italian number 26 seed Flavia Pennetta during the grand slam as well. Her best run at a tournament helped her to move up 60 world rank spots.

Kerber continued to rise up the world rankings and in 2013 she was the number four seed. At the 2016 Australian Open, Kerber went into the tournament ranked number seven and claimed some of the greatest wins of her career over the two-time champion and Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, as well as Johanna Konta from England to advance through to her first Grand Slam final up against world number one at the time Serena Williams.

Kerber played exceptionally well in the championship final winning in three sets to take out her first Grand Slam title. Her first major victory also meant she was the first German to win a Grand Slam since 1999 and at the end of the Australian Open she was the world number two seed.

Simona Halep:

In 2018, Romanian Halep finally won her first major title in Roland Garros, Paris after she came back from a set and break down to overcome American Sloane Stephens in three sets.

It was a special moment for the current world number two seed because she was genuinely filled with pure emotions in the way she completely enjoyed and embraced the maiden grand slam win of her career.