Simona Halep produced a flawless display in the semifinals of the Madrid Open as she crushed Sam Stosur 6-2, 6-0, in just 52 minutes.
The performance of the Romanian was impeccable as almost every aspect of Stosur’s game failed to work. Two out of their three most recent meetings went to three sets, so the one-sidedness of the match stunned many inside the Caja Magica.
Halep’s route to the final was aided significantly by the erratic state of Stosur’s game. A wild forehand from the former US Open champion gifted Halep her first break point of the match. The Romanian converted with ease after a return from her opponent failed to go over the net. As the errors continued to fly from Stosur’s racket, Halep eased to the first set after only 30 minutes of play.
The Halep masterclass continued in the second set as she dealt Stosur her first bagel set since the Citi Open last august. The Australian was far from her best tennis as she struggled to hit the ball in the court. Throughout the second set Halep won 24 out of 30 points to underline her absolute dominance in the entire match.
.@Simona_Halep‘s second @MutuaMadridOpen final in three years! #MMOPEN https://t.co/LlNeWVuAYL
— WTA (@WTA) 6 May 2016
The biggest telling factor of the brief encounter was the player’s second serving percentages. Halep won 71% of her second serve compared to her opponent’s dismal record of 14%. She also fired 13 winners and got 80% of her first serves in. Furthermore, Halep produced only six unforced errors compared to Stosur’s costly 23.
The easy win comes as a surprise for the Romanian, who admitted after her win that she was feeling sore this morning from her earlier matches.
“In the morning I was feeling a little bit sore from all the matches this week,” Halep said.
“Then I warmed up and I felt really well.”
The performance was a clear indicator that Halep will without a doubt be the stand out favorite in Saturday’s final against Dominika Cibulkova. The world No.7 currently trails the head-to-head against Cibulkova 1-3, however, their last meeting was in 2014.
“I expect a tough one because it is the final and the last match of the tournament is always difficult,” she said about the upcoming match.
“On the other hand, I have experience. I feel ready to play.”
“I know her pretty well. I beat her, she beat me. It’s an open match, either of us could win it.”
Speaking about winning the Madrid Open trophy, Halep described the prospect of winning it as ‘one of her dreams‘. The final stage of her potential dream will take place on Saturday at 18:00 (CET +1) in the Manolo Santana Stadium. A win would give Halep her third WTA Premier title.
