Tennis News

MONTRÉAL, Canada – It wasn’t a “Perfect 10”. But it was close!

Simona Halep won her 10th consecutive match and her second straight title on Sunday, beating Madison Keys, 7-6(2), 6-3, to win the Rogers Cup. It capped off a strong week for the Romanian, who became the first woman since Martina Hingis in 2000 to make the final of both the singles and doubles at the Rogers Cup  – Halep and her partner Monica Niculescu lost to Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.

The title run in Montréal  moves Halep up to No.3 in both the rankings and the Road to Singapore, where she has qualified the last two years. But perhaps the most impressive takeaway from Halep’s week was her ability to run through gauntlet of top players, losing just two sets all week. She beat No.2 Angelique Kerber, No.9 Madison Keys, No.10 Svetlana Kuznetsova, No.17 Karolina Pliskova and Daria Gavrilova. That’s not an easy path to any title.

Equally impressive was Halep’s ability to turn matches around. Though she lost just two sets, she went through stretches where she looked on the verge of coming undone mentally. Against Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals she came out nervous and fell behind 0-4 quickly. She went on to win the next two sets 6-1, 6-1. Against Kerber she lost six consecutive games after building a commanding lead. She would win the last six games to close the match.

The key for the turnarounds? A broader perspective. That’s something her coach Darren Cahill preached throughout the week during their increasingly rare coaching timeouts.

“Actually when he says I have to look at the big picture, it makes me more relaxed and I can easily do my job on court…. The on-court coaching [timeouts] were a little bit tough. I had many emotions. I was nervous when I spoke. I was too negative I think these two days. But he said he understands because I’m tired. So all good.

“But, yeah, it helps me when he’s more relaxed than me and he just shows me that I have a good game and it’s good if I practice everything for the future, not just for the tournament. So it’s good.”

Fighting through the fatigue was a big win for Halep. Injury and illness derailed the start of her season and the first six months of the season were about rebuilding her strength, fitness, and endurance to where they should have been in January. Playing both singles and doubles exhausted in Montréal, but she battled through it.

“In the morning, I moved the practice,” Halep said after the final. “I had at 11:00 and I moved it at 12:00 because I couldn’t move. I said it’s good to practice just before the match, to be warm, to go on court and see how I can be.

“But I think doubles help me to exercise my return and also the serve. So I take it everything like positive things and just enjoying. Today was just in my mind that is the last match of the tournament and I have to leave everything on court.”

WTA Insider sat down with Halep after the final to recap her winning week in Montréal.

WTA Insider: What does this week mean to you?
Halep: It means a lot because it’s a big tournament, and it’s my second final in a row here. The first one, I couldn’t finish it; I was very sick and I had to stop. But here, I also had nice support from the crowd, and that makes it more special. It’s one of my biggest tournaments that I’ve won, so it’s nice. I want just to enjoy the moment, even if I’m tired! I want to enjoy it.

WTA Insider: You played singles and doubles this week. How different did that make your entire tournament?
Halep: It was very different because I’m not used to playing doubles. I got a little bit tired in the end. But it also helped me to play some doubles matches because I practiced the return, the serve. That helped me a lot in singles; I had tough opponents there. It’s been a great week in both singles and doubles. I am dead, but I have a few days break, and I will be fresh again for Cincinnati.

WTA Insider: What’s it like playing doubles with Monica?
Halep: It’s not easy because she’s very motivated for every ball, and I’d get tired a little bit. But it’s nice because we had a lot of fun and she knows doubles; she’s into it all the time, every second. It’s been good, and hopefully we will play together at one tournament or another.

WTA Insider: Talking about your game, what is the thing you’re most pleased with this week?
Halep: The serve, first of all. Then, I hit the balls pretty strong and pretty good. I had good angles, and I moved really well. I ran, like a marathon.

WTA Insider: Do you think that’s the best you’ve moved all year?
Halep: Yes, because I have the best feeling from my body now. Strong legs, and I don’t get tired during the matches, so that’s a big plus. I think everything went very well for me this week, and I improved a lot in every single part of my game.

WTA Insider: You played a lot of different types of players – a big hitter like Madison, athletes like Kerber and Kuznetsova – which match made you most proud to win?
Halep: I think the most difficult match was today with Madison, because you don’t get a rhythm. You’ll get some winners where you can’t even see the ball, let alone touch it. It was an unpredictable match, where I didn’t know what to expect point by point. So that makes more stress for me when I’m not sure what I have to do next point. I’m a person that likes to have it in my mind what I have to do. The match with Kerber was also tough, because I had to run, but every match was difficult in one way or another. But I had good wins, and tough opponents, so it makes it more special and tougher.

WTA Insider: Why do you get mad at yourself when you might be leading in the score, and it doesn’t seem like a moment when you should be negative?
Halep: My physio Dragos is new and he doesn’t know tennis very well. He asked Darren during the match where I had a set and 5-0, ‘Why is Simona angry at this moment?’ I don’t know how to answer, because it happens. It’s coming from inside where I get frustrated because I’ve missed a ball. I always want perfection. I know that doesn’t exist, but I’m looking for it a lot anyway. I don’t know if I’ll ever find out why I do this, but if I do, I will change it because I really want to change this and be more patient and positive with myself.

WTA Insider: Has your opinion or thought process when it comes to the US Open Series changed over time?
Halep: I think I play better tennis on hardcourts here at the US Open Series because the courts are faster and I started to play well on this surface. I feel more confident because I had a great result last year at all the tournaments, so I’m looking forward to the next tournament because I feel confident that I can win some more matches. I just have to be careful with my body, to take a rest and recover, and then to work again.

WTA Insider: With the Olympics this year there is now a two week break. Is it weird to have a two-week break before the next event? Your schedules are usually so regimented.
Halep: Every year is usually the same, so it’s a bit weird, but it’s good to have an extra week, to be honest. I have time to recover, and take a break. I didn’t have one after Wimbledon because I played at home, so that was a bit tough. Something changed, so we just have to adjust, and take it like it is and think positive things and be relaxed.

WTA Insider: Having had a slow start because of the injuries you had, you’ve been on the outside or on the bubble of the RTS. How much is qualifying for the WTA Finals a goal for you?
Halep: It’s goal to go to Singapore every year. I knew at the beginning of the year, or even the first half of the year, that it was going to be tough to qualify again. But now I think I’m close. It’s going to be a new experience there. Hopefully I can do better than last year. I have great memories from 2014. I like the court there, and the atmosphere. I just have to do my job until Singapore and then go there, because it’s one of the goals every player has.

WTA Insider: This week in Montréal, have you had any special routines throughout the week?
Halep: I had the same breakfast every morning for the 10 days at the hotel. Scrambled eggs and a chocolate croissant. At lunch, plain pasta with chicken – very boring. In the evening, I’d have a fish I don’t normally eat, but this week I had it every day. Cheesecake for dessert every night, and that worked pretty well.

WTA Insider: I guess playing doubles means you could afford a few extra calories.
Halep: I have dessert every day, never miss a day. It makes me feel better.

WTA Insider: Good to know that you can eat cheesecake and chocolate croissants and still win a Premier tournament.
Halep: That’s good!

WTA Insider: Looking forward, do you know what you plans are between now and Cincinnati?
Halep: I will stay in the US to practice. I just have to enjoy myself a little bit; I’m tired and need more energy to go ahead to the next tournament. I’m not going home because it’s too far and I don’t want to chance having jetlag. It’ll be a long trip for me, but it’s going to be nice because I’m enjoying my time more now in the US.

WTA Insider: You said in your press conference that you’ll probably have three or four days off, depending on how good of a negotiator you are.
Halep: I am pretty good! I got four already! Today, Darren said I could even take five, but four is ok (laughs).

WTA Insider: So if Simona Halep has four days off…
Halep: Sleeping the first two days, and then to the spa for beauty salon and nails, everything. I like to spend hours there. Then I will go visit something in the city where I’ll be and then shopping, because I promised myself that the doubles prize money will go towards shopping. I have enough, and it’ll take me more days now (laughs).

Hear more from Halep in the latest episode of the WTA Insider Podcast:

FLORIANOPOLIS, Brazil – No.2 seed Irina-Camelia Begu battled past a spirited challenge from Monica Puig to earn her spot in the final of the Brasil Tennis Cup, where she’s set to face the No.6 seed Timea Babos for the title.

Watch live action from Florianopolis this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

“It was a tough one because she is playing really aggressive and hit the ball very hard,” Begu said of her Puerto Rican opponent. “I served well in the important games. It was difficult but I think I managed it well.”

Begu is the second Romanian player to reach the final of the Brasil Tennis Cup after Monica Niculescu won the title at the tournament’s inaugural staging in 2013. Standing in Begu’s way as she tries to emulate her countrywoman is Babos, who spoiled what would have been an all-Romanian final when she edged past Ana Bodgan in a tight straights sets rollercoaster, 7-6(10), 6-3.

The Hungarian looked to be firmly in the driver’s seat from the start after she built up a 5-2 lead, but a mental lapse gave Bodgan a way back. Bogdan rattled off four games straight and even held three sets points at 6-5, 40-0.

Babos reigned in her mounting frustration to send the set to a tiebreak, and Bodgan raced ahead to a 5-0 lead, only to see it dashed away again as the No.6 seed clawed back to take the opening set.

“It was definitely a silly, silly match,” she said afterwards. “I mean, I was really controlling the match in the beginning of the first set and then I lost control – especially of my emotions.”

“It was ridiculous, very unbelievable that first set.”

The second set would prove to be just as difficult as the first, featuring eight breaks of serve total. Babos, who had been very defensive in her service games thus far, finally changed her strategy at the end and raised her level of aggressiveness to take the decisive seventh break at 4-3, then once again to close out the two hour long battle and make her way to the Florianopolis final.

Her day wasn’t over yet, though, as later Babos was back on court after suitable rest to join her partner Reka-Luka Jani for the doubles final against Ukrainian sisters Lyudmyla Kichenok and Nadiia Kichenok.

It was one way traffic for the Kichenoks as they routed the all-Hungarian duo 6-3, 6-1.

Both teams were fine tuning their Olympic preparations and are scheduled to be back on the courts after the Olympic tennis event kicks off this weekend in nearby Rio de Janeiro.

“For sure this tournament was great preparation for the Olympics,” Lyudmyla said. “We are really looking forward to it now after winning here in Florianopolis.”