Top seed Simona Halep battled from a set and a break down to defeat America’s Vania King 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-3, at the Bucharest Open.
Playing in her home tournament, the world No.5 struggled to tame King throughout the match and lost her serve nine times. Halep only managed to win 27% of her second service points (9/33), but compensated with 56% on her first. Nevertheless, the home favourite managed to work her way to the final of the tournament for the second time since 2014.
Speaking about her roller coaster two-hour-and-twelve-minute marathon, Halep admitted that she was troubled by nerves throughout her semifinal match.
“I was nervous, it was a very difficult match,” Halep said in her press conference.
“I missed the first set, but I came back. Vania played very well, she was playing aggressively, as expected.”
Halep will now be bidding to win her 13th WTA title on Sunday and her second in her home country. In the final she will play Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova. The world No.66 progress to her second final on the tour this season after defeating Germany’s Laura Siegemund 6-3, 6-2. Sevastova is yet to lose a set in the tournament. The run to the final in Bucharest marks the Latvian’s best season since 2010, the year when she last won a WTA title.
Sunday’s final will be the first meeting between the two players since 2011. Halep currently has a losing record of 1-3 against Sevastova. The Romanian has never lost a match at the Bucharest Open and is on a nine-match winning streak. Clinching the title in 2014, Halep skipped the tournament in 2015.
Regardless of the outcome of the match, both players have secured 180 WTA points and a cheque of $21,400.
