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Madrid Tuesday: Hola Halep

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MADRID, Spain –  Simona Halep leads the pack on the last day of second round action at the Mutua Madrid Open.

Tuesday, Second Round

[6] Simona Halep (ROU #7) vs Karin Knapp (ITA #75)
Head-to-head: Halep leads 1-0
Key Stat: Knapp (122 minutes) has spent twice as long on court as Halep (58 minutes) in Madrid

The 2014 Madrid finalist’s season has so far unfolded in fits and starts: Halep posted solid quarterfinal appearances at Indian Wells and Miami, as well as second round exits at Doha and Stuttgart. She’s nonetheless adjusted well to the altitude and conditions in Madrid and dropped just three games in her opening match.

“It was a good match, a good start for me,” Halep said. “I had a good start because I was confident, and practicing very well the last few days here.”

By contrast, Halep’s opponent has spent much of her season dealing with a right knee injury, and has only played three matches so far this year. Though each one ended in a first round loss, Knapp has showed her grit in the last two, taking her opponents to three sets. But Halep is the first Top 20 player Knapp has had to face, and she might be too much for the recovering Italian.

The matchup could ultimately come down to Halep’s health, which has been a source of woe for the Romanian in 2016. Though she’s still recovering from the breathing difficulties and ankle injury that sent her crashing out of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, she showed none of those symptoms during her 58-minute demolition of Misaki Doi in the last round. A repeat performance against Knapp would see her advance comfortably to the round of 16.

Samantha Stosur (AUS #23) vs [11] Lucie Safarova (CZE #13)
Head-to-head: Safarova leads 11-3
Key Stat: Safarova has won all three of their encounters on clay

Lucie Safarova and Samantha Stosur are two players familiar with each other: they’ve played 14 times previously, and their latest encounter is probably still fresh in their memory. They played a few days ago in the final of the J&T Banka Prague Open – Safarova came back from a set down run away with the match and the title, her first on clay since 2005.

Both of them made the change from Prague to Madrid with ease, despite the less than ideal turnaround time: after their Saturday final in Prague, the two shared the same flight to the Spanish capital and played their opening matches at the Mutua Madrid Open on Sunday.

“It’s gonna be a late night tonight, and I know Lucie and I are on the same flight,” Stosur said after their final. “We’ll both be in the same boat but that’s the way it goes sometimes.

“It’s not ideal preparation, but to be in a final – you’d take that any day.”

With both of them fighting fatigue, Stosur is eager to grab a chance at redemption against her Czech nemesis. She had Safarova under pressure in their Prague final, and without the effect of the partisan home crowd she could seal the victory.

Also in action: Laura Siegemund made headlines at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix when she made a run from the qualifying rounds all the way to her career-first Premier-level final. She already looks set to repeat the streak: the German qualifier knocked out No.9 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in her first main draw match. Standing in the way of her next fairytale run is Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. Meanwhile, No.8 seed Carla Suárez Navarro – the only Spaniard left in the draw – will have to hold her nerve in front of the home crowd as she takes on Sabine Lisicki on Court Manolo Santana. Ekaterina Makarova and No.10 seed Timea Bacsinszky open the day session at Pista 4.

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Gavrilova Sends Champion Kvitova Packing

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MADRID, Spain – Daria Gavrilova caused the latest upset at the Mutua Madrid Open draw, knocking out defending champion Petra Kvitova in the third round.

Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Madrid right here on wtatennis.com!

Kvitova is the 12th seed to bite the Madrid dust in just five days, leaving Simona Halep as the only Top 10 player left standing. Gavrilova, who faces Louisa Chirico in the last eight, impressed throughout, breaking three times en route to a 6-3, 6-4 victory.

While Gavrilova’s game never wavered, Kvitova’s failure to find her range was the source of increasing frustration. In the penultimate game of the opening set, a backhand into the net capped off a string of unforced errors that gift wrapped the decisive break.

It prompted the Czech to fling her hands skywards, and another break at the start of the second did little to lift her mood. Meanwhile, Gavrilova’s neat and tidy approach – she made 18 unforced errors to Kvitova’s 30 – continued to pay dividends, helping her out of couple of close games and safely across the finishing line.

Kvitova went into the tournament with an abdomen strain, an injury that affected not only her serve during the match but also her preparation beforehand.

“I think Daria really played a solid match. I couldn’t put everything together out there – I was still dealing with the pain from Stuttgart” Kvitova said. “I couldn’t really practice for a week. I’m glad that I won two matches and I’m glad that it feels like it’s getting better, so hopefully I can start to do more fitness and tennis practice.”

A run to the semifinals in Rome 12 months ago announced Gavrilova to the tennis world. Standing between her and a repeat performance at one of the spring’s other big events is qualifier Chirico, the beneficiary of Victoria Azarenka’s last-minute injury withdrawal.

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Halep Holds Off Begu For Semifinal Spot

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MADRID, Spain – 2014 Madrid runner up Simona Halep held off an inspired performance from Romanian qualifier Irina-Camelia Begu and secured her spot in the Mutua Madrid Open semifinals, 6-3, 0-6, 6-1.

Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Madrid right here on wtatennis.com!

No.6 seed Halep – the only seed still standing in Madrid – leads the pack of four Romanians who’ve reached the quarterfinal stage here. It’s a historic showing for the small Latin country in Eastern Europe.

“I think it’s a big thing for our country,” Halep said. “It’s a small country, and four girls to be in the quarterfinals of such a big tournament, it means a lot.

“I am in the semifinals. Maybe the other two is going to be going in the semis. It’s going to be a good thing.”

Plenty of chances went Begu’s way in the first set: she built up 30-0 leads twice in Halep’s service games, and despite creating three break chances in the set she couldn’t convert any of them. On paper they were drawn very evenly in the first set – seven winners apiece and 12 unforced errors from Halep to Begu’s 15, but in the key moments Begu’s usually reliable forehand misfired leaving Halep in command.

Begu learned from her first set mistakes, though, and went into the second looking like she couldn’t miss – only making one error all set long. She drew Halep out of her comfort zone and left her feeling rushed, striking nine errors and suffering her first bagel set of 2016. Halep righted the ship right away though, breaking Begu early on allowing her just one game in the final set.

As good as having four Romanians in the quarterfinals was for her country, it was at times a source of distraction for Halep, who admitted afterwards that she could overhear Begu’s coaching breaks.

“Yeah, affected me a little bit, but I was stronger in the third set and I didn’t care anymore,” Halep said. “It wasn’t my best day. Anyway, if I won means that I played good tennis. I’m confident it was a good match for me.

“I take it like a positive one, even if I gave that second set easy. I was there until the end, and I’m glad that I could control myself until the end.”

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Garcia & Mladenovic Into Madrid Final

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MADRID, Spain – Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic extended their perfect start to the clay court season with victory over Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in the Mutua Madrid Open semifinals.

Arriving in the Spanish capital brimming with confidence after back-to-back titles in Charleston and Stuttgart, Garcia and Mladenovic have looked untouchable. After cruising through the rounds, the No.5 seeds put down a marker with their showing against former French Open champions Makarova and Vesnina, wrapping up a 6-2, 6-3 victory in little over an hour.

“It was a tough match and we fought really well,” Mladenovic said. “We’re on a great run but whoever we face in the final won’t be easy, so we’ll play our own game regardless. Clay is being great to us this season and me and Caroline are really playing great as a pair.”

A shot at Olympic glory prompted the union between Garcia and Mladenovic, who had previously been in successful partnerships with Katarina Srebotnik and Timea Babos, respectively. And while the Frenchwomen took a few tournaments to fully gel, they have now well and truly found their feet on the terre battue.

Victory over Makarova and Vesnina extends their unbeaten streak to 12 matches and sets up a rematch against the world’s leading pair: Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza.

The teams met a fortnight ago in the Stuttgart final, Garcia and Mladenovic overcoming a disastrous start to pinch it on a match tie-break. Hingis and Mirza secured their final berth thanks to an even more impressive showing, dismantling Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-2, 6-0, in 51 minutes.

“It’s obviously awesome – our second consecutive final of the clay court season. I don’t think either of us had ever made it to the final in Madrid before, so it’s a good feeling to already be doing better than last year and we’re looking forward to playing Garcia and Mladenovic again,” Hingis said.

Despite their dominance atop the rankings, Hingis insists they are the underdogs going into the final: “They are definitely the team to beat on clay, so if we want to be competitive at the French Open we know we’ll have to test ourselves against them.”

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Gavrilova Stuns Halep In Rome

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

ROME, Italy – Daria Gavrilova continues to save her best tennis for the Internazionali BNL d’Italia; looking to back up her run to last year’s semifinals, the Aussie outlasted Mutua Madrid Open winner Simona Halep, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, to reach the third round.

Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Madrid right here on wtatennis.com!

“I played pretty well the whole match,” Gavrilova said after her win. “It was always going to be a tough battle because we’re pretty similar players.

“A few years back, I was watching her play thinking, ‘I could play like her,’ and beating her today was an unreal feeling. I was super happy. After the rain delay, I could reset and come out there playing very good!”

Halep needed three sets to defeat Gavrilova in their only previous encounter at the 2015 BNP Paribas Open, and the match was headed to another photo finish when a rain delay halted proceedings at one set apiece.

“Maybe if it wouldn’t rain, maybe I would have played better,” Halep said in her post-match press conference. “But that’s it. I cannot change anything. If it’s raining, it’s raining. If I lose, you lose. I won a lot of matches last week, so I don’t give up now that I lost one match.”

Play has been suspended due to rain ☔️ #ibi16 https://t.co/HBmfgHoqMu

Working her way through an even contest, the 2009 French Open junior finalist looked to be fading, but quickly caught fire after saving a break point in the fourth game.

Showing off the sort of boundless energy that has become her signature, the unseeded Aussie promptly broke serve in the next game and all but ran away with the match from there. Surviving a brief hiccup when serving for it, she broke once more at love to clinch the match in just under two hours, hitting 30 winners to 31 unforced errors.

The win was Gavrilova’s first over a Top 5 player this season, and second of her career – having previously defeated then-World No.2 Maria Sharapova in the second round of last year’s Miami Open ahead of her Roman run.

Though Halep didn’t display the form that took her to a second career Premier Mandatory title in Madrid, the Romanian nonetheless hit 29 winners of her own, but wasn’t able to make up for her 33 unforced errors hit over the course of three sets.

“It’s not a big drama that I lost today,” Halep said. “But it still was a loss and it’s not easy.

“I take just a positive from last week. Today was tough for me to adapt, but still I could play better, but that’s it. I’m still confident, but I have to keep working to go to French Open.”

Up next for Gavrilova is No.9 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova on Pietrangeli Court; the Russian eased past Madrid semifinalist Samantha Stosur, 6-4, 6-4, just before the rain delay. Growing uo in Russia, the 2009 French Open champion is a player she knows well.

“When I was little, my first coach was telling us about her childhood. She was our hero, as well as Maria. I have so much respect for her. It’s exciting, and I’m pretty sure she likes clay!”

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Serena Steadies To Reach Last Eight

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

ROME, Italy – Trailing by an early break, top seed Serena Williams saved a set point to outlast countrywoman Christina McHale and ease into the quarterfinals of the Internazionali BNL d”Italia, 7-6(7), 6-1.

Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Rome right here on wtatennis.com!

“I feel good, because I feel like she hits a lot of balls back,” she said in her post-match press conference. “I wanted to get a match in like that where she gets a lot of balls back and see how I was able to do against that and see how I was physically after that, too.

“I think physically, you know, every day is a new day for me, and I just try to see when I wake up. I just go from there.”

A three-time champion in Rome, Williams was looking to reach her first clay court final of the season, but first had to rise to the challenge of solving McHale, who had pushed her to three sets at the Miami Open and outlasted former No.1 Ana Ivanovic in the previous round.

McHale served for the set in the ninth game – having converted her eighth break point opportunity at 2-2 – but Williams stepped up at that crucial moment, racing out to a 0-40 lead and eventually leveling the set three points later.

“Anyone can win on any day, and everyone’s going and gunning. No one is coming out and saying, Oh, I play a seed so I’m going to lose. They are saying, Oh, I play a seed so I’m going to win this match. And I think that’s what we need in tennis.”

Still, the young American wasn’t done fighting, saving two set points and holding one of her own in the ensuing tie-break before the 21-time Grand Slam champion shut the door.

Playing far more consistent tennis in the second set, Williams broke three times to end the contest on her second match point, hitting 21 winners to 35 unforced errors throughout the 101 minute encounter. For her part, McHale stayed within reach on the stats sheet, making seven fewer mistakes but also three fewer winners, but was held back by her break point conversion rate – 1/10 against the big-serving Serena.

Up next for the World No.1 is Svetlana Kuznetsova, the last woman to beat her back in the round of 16 in Miami; the Russian survived an up-and-down affair with 2015 Rome semifinalist Daria Gavrilova, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.

“I think right now she’s probably one of the best clay-court players. I couldn’t ask for a better match going into Roland Garros, so this is a perfect opportunity for me, win or lose, to see where I am and get ready for what I’m ready for, which is the main event.

“In my mind I’m always No. 1, and I think I have always thought that since I have turned pro. And in everyone else’s mind, even when I was injured they are like, You’re No. 1. I’m like, Yeah, sure. So everyone else thinks it.”

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