Second seed Simona Halep has suffered an upset at the Shenzhen Open after being knocked out 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, by Katerina Siniakova in the second round.
Halep, who lifted the title in 2015, failed to tame her rival after getting off to a slow start when she swiftly went down 0-4. Throughout the match both players struggled to maintain consistency behind their serve with a total of 15 breaks occurring (eight for Halep and seven for Siniakova). In suiting fashion it was a break that decided the outcome of the match. As the Czech underdog served to claim the biggest win of her career, she had to save three break points before sealing the two-hour match with on her second match point.
It’s a FIRST #WTA Top 10 win for Katerina Siniakova!
Shocks World No.4 Halep 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 at #ShenzhenOpen! pic.twitter.com/5FzCHGm2Ma
— WTA (@WTA) 4 January 2017
The shock win rewards 20-year-old Siniakova with her first triumph over a top 10 player. Her previous best performance was a top 20 victory over Andrea petkova in 2015.
“I’m really happy that I won for me, because it was a very tough match,” Siniakova told wtatennis.com. “When I walked onto court I was feeling that I could win and I just wanted to show my best.
“I was feeling a little bit of pressure in the final set and I’m so happy that I managed to come through and win the match.”
A former finalist at the Australian Open in the girls’ singles, the Czech enjoyed a breakthrough season last year. Peaking at a career high of 49th in October, Siniakova also reached two WTA finals in Bastaad and Tokyo. Speaking about her latest achievement, the 20-year-old attributed the performance to her work during the off-season.
“I worked a lot in the off-season and I can say that my confidence is growing and I hope it will continue like this in the next round.” She said.
Next for Siniakova will be a meeting with Serbian qualifier Nina Stojanović. Stojanović, who defeated fifth seed Timea Babos in the first round, battled her way past Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. The Serbian will now play in her first WTA Tour quarter-final.
World No.60 Karolina Pliskova experienced little difficulty in her one-sided performance against Chang Kai-chen. Firing eight aces and winning 70% of her service points, the Czech strolled to a 6-1, 6-2, win in under 50 minutes. Pliskova will play third seed Joanna Konta in the next round.
Finally Italy’s Camila Giorgi survived a three-hour marathon against home player Saisai Zheng, winning 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-4.
