After three previous painful losses to Johanna Konta, the Romanian finally prevails over her nemesis to reach the Western & Southern Open semifinals for the third year in a row.
By Todd Muffie
CINCINNATI – No. 2-seed Simona Halep had plenty to smile about on a stunning Friday night at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. Not only did the Romanian overcome the challenge from Johanna Konta after three consecutive losses to the Brit, but she also continued her charge towards the No. 1 ranking that currently belongs to Karolina Pliskova. If Halep emerges as the tournament winner on Sunday, she will be the new Queen of the WTA rankings. If Pliskova instead manages to successfully defend the title that she brilliantly captured last year, the Czech will remain at the top.
Johanna Konta of Great Britain has been Simona Halep’s nemesis in the past couple of years leading 3-0 in their head-to-head. Their most recent clash occurred at Wimbledon a few weeks ago with a heartbreaking loss for the Romanian, who was only one match away from becoming world No. 1.
In a see-saw first set, Konta went up an early break, but the Romanian superbly responded by completely turning the situation in her favor and jumping to a 5-2 lead. At this point, Konta attempted a comeback and broke Halep again when Simona was serving for the set at 5-3. The Romanian managed to wrap up the set with the score of 6-4 thanks to an excellent return game.
The second set seemed to follow the same pattern as the first, with Halep playing solid tennis and turning defense into offense at any opportunity. She also took advantage of two visits from her coach Darren Cahill in crucial moments of the match, while Konta never requested her coach despite a substantial number of forehand errors.
Halep served for the match at 5-3 in the second set but failed to capitalize on the opportunity with the Brit saving two match points. On the first match point Konta benefited from a net cord that allowed her to set up for a mid-court winner, while on the second she hit a massive forehand that Halep couldn’t even touch.
At 5-5 Konta seemed poised to take the match to a third set, but couldn’t convert two important break-points on Halep’s serve. The British player was betrayed by too many forehand errors and the Romanian finally conquered her demons by emphatically winning the tie-breaker 7 points to 1.
Halep will now face Sloane Stephens in Saturday’s semifinals. After coming back from foot-surgery a few weeks ago, the American has enjoyed a great run during this year’s US Open Series. The match could materialize into a classic for the local Cincinnati crowd.
