It has been a roller coaster year for the world number two, Simona Halep of Romania. She is the highest seed in the WTA Finals Singapore as Serena Williams is not playing in the tournament. Early this year Halep won titles in Shenzhen, Dubai and Indian Wells. She then proceeded to lose in the second round at the French Open and the first round at Wimbledon. Her game improved later in the summer with finals appearances in Toronto and Cincinnati. At the US Open, the Romanian lost to eventual Champion Flavia Pennetta in the semifinals.
When asked about playing in Singapore, Halep replied, “I feel good here. I feel the game. I have great memories from last year, so I came with confidence.” The world number two was a finalist here last year, losing to Williams. Halep had beaten Williams the first time they played earlier in the tournament. ”I feel that I can play my best tennis here,” Halep said. ”I can say that I didn’t play my best today, but I played good tennis. I played solid. I was dominating the match.”
Halep’s convincing win over Pennetta today was a sharp contrast to their last meeting in the US Open semifinals which the Italian won in straight sets: 6-1, 6-3. “I think there she had more confidence. She has more energy to win the match. She played better. There I was a little down. I was a little bit tired I can say. I didn’t play the right game against her in the US Open.”
“Here, I was well-prepared and I knew how to play against her. I was expecting that she’s going to play the same like in (the) US Open, and I knew how to adapt the game.”
“So I was solid. I was smart, aggressive – I can say. I didn’t overpower. I just opened the court and I tried to finish the point.”
Halep was happy with parts of her game, particularly her forehand and return of serve. She said she wanted to improve her backhand and closing out points. “I’m not disappointed about my game today, but I feel like it’s not the perfect game.”
The Romanian credited tactical and technical improvements in in her recent game to working with coach Darren Cahill. She said, “I thing Darren helped me (by) pushing me to believe in myself. My team was close to me. So everything was in a positive way, and that’s why maybe I’m here and playing good again.” She said they discuss how to play and how to hit. “He’s very positive, and that’s why now I believe more in myself.”
