Top seed Simona Halep overcame a tough two-set match to edge German Julia Goerges 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (8-6) setting up a semifinal against Elina Svitolina at the Doha Total Qatar Open.
Halep went up a double break to build up a 4-0 lead. Goerges pulled one break back in the sixth game at deuce to claw her way back to 2-4. Halep broke for the third time at love for 5-3. Goerges came back by breaking back to 5-5 forcing the match to force the match to the tie-break. Halep won the first set tie-break 7-3.
The Romanian star went down a break in the third game to trail 1-2 in the third game of the second set. Goerges saved two break points to hold her serve on the fifth deuce in the sixth game for 4-2. Halep pulled the break back at love to draw level to 5-5 setting up a tie-break. Halep saved two set points at 4-6 and won four consecutive points to close out the tie-break 8-6. Next week Halep will return to the world number 2 spot in the WTA Ranking.
Halep is playing her first match under the guidance of her new coach Thierry Van Cleemput.
Halep set up a semifinal against last year’s WTA Finals champion Elina Svitolina, who cruised past Czech qualifier Karolina Muchova 6-4 6-2 to qualify for her first semifinal in 2019.
Svitolina broke twice in each set and won 78 % of her first serve points.
The first set went on serve until 4-3 with just one break point held by both players. Svitolina got the first break in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead earning a chance to serve out the first set. Muchova saved the set point and broke back to get back on serve for 4-5. Muchova saved a set point with a down the line backhand, but Svitolina converted her second set point 6-4.
Muchova saved a break point with a backhand winner at 2-1 in the second set and held her serve to draw level to 2-2. Mudrova rallied from 0-40 down to force the sixth game to deuce, but Svitolina converted her fourth break point to open up a 4-2 lead. The Ukrainian player saved a break point to extend her lead to 5-2 in the seventh game.
Svitolina rallied from 0-40 down to earn a match point. She hit a backhand winner to seal the win with a break on her first match point.
“I was just trying to focus on what I have to do on my game, on my strength, what I had to do. I had to serve good, had to return. Had to move quickly. So just everything had to be good. In the end I found a way to beat her. I was very happy I could do it in two sets”,said Svitolina.
Svitolina leads 4-1 in their five head-to-head matches. Halep won her only match against Svitolina in three sets at the 2017 French Open final. Svitolina beat her Romanian rival in the past two Rome finals in 2017 and 2018, at the 2017 Rogers Cup and at the 2018 WTA Finals in Singapore.
Last year’s Wimbledon champion and 2014 Doha finalist Angelique Kerber came back from one set down to beat Czech Republic’s Barbora Strycova 1-6 6-4 7-6 (7-4).
Kerber rallied from a break down in the third set to clinch a hard-fought win after two hours and seven minutes.
Strykova saved a break point before holding serve in a long first game of the opening set. The Czech player broke serve in the second game to open up a 2-0 lead. Kerber won her first game with her crosscourt backhand for 1-3. Strycova hit a forehand down the line to hold her service game and broke serve to race out to a 5-1 lead. The Czech player served out the set 6-1 in the seventh game.
Strycova went up an early break in the first game of the second game, but Kerber broke back at love. The German player broke for the second time with a lob on break point and held his serve to take a 4-1 lead. The German sealed the second set 6-4 with another break of serve.
Kerber won the first eight points to build up a 3-0 lead with a break of serve in the third set. Strycova saved Kerber’s game point with a backhand down the line in the fifth game before breaking back for 3-2. Stykova earned another break to win her fourth consecutive game for 4-3. Kerber got the break back in the next game to draw level to 4-4. Kerber earned a match point on Strykova’s serve at 5-4, but the Czech player forced an error with a forehand to save it and held her serve to draw level to 5-5.
Strycova got an early mini-break in the tie-break to take a 2-0 lead, but Kerber won four consecutive points to take a 4-2 lead. Kerber hit a forehand pass at 5-3 and earned three match points after Strycova made a forehand long. Kerber sealed the win with a crosscourt forehand winner.
Belgium’s Elise Mertens saw off Kiki Bertens 6-4 6-3 to score her third win in her four head-to-head matches against the Dutch player. Mertens got the first break of the match in the second game to race out to a 4-1 lead. Bertens broke back in the seventh game to draw level to 4-4. The Dutchwoman earned five game points in the 10th game, but she dropped serve with a backhand error.
Mertens earned an early break in the second game of the second set. Bertens broke back in the seventh game with a backhand down the line winner. The Belgian player converted her third break point chance in the seventh game at deuce, when Bertens netted an easy backhand, and sealed the win with a hold of serve in the ninth game on her third match point.