Top seed Simona Halep had a duo of reasons to celebrate at the Qatar Open on Wednesday.
The reigning French Open champion kick-off her campaign in Doha with a 6-2, 6-3, win over Lesia Tsurenko to book a place in the quarter-finals of the tournament. Despite the straightforward score, Halep was forced to battle back in the second set. Recovering from a 1-3 deficit by winning five games in a row to claim the match. The win increased Halep’s winning head-to-head against the Ukrainian to 6-0.
“It’s always tough to play against her, because she doesn’t give pace. She has a strange game in the direction that she feels the ball really well,” wtatennis.com quoted Halep as saying.
“It’s not easy to hit the ball from her balls. It’s always tough, but I got the feeling against her, and maybe that’s why I can win every time I play against her.”
As a consequence of her latest win, the 27-year-old has ensured that she will rise back to world No.2 next week. Halep was in a three-way race to the spot with Sloane Stephens and Karolina Pliskova. Stephens isn’t playing in Doha this week and Pliskova has withdrawn due to a viral illness. World No.1 Naomi Osaka will keep the top spot this week regardless of how well Halep performs.
“It doesn’t matter now the ranking,” Halep said during her on-court interview afterwards. “I just play to win every match I play. I step on the court I just want to see how good I can be. If I’m second now I will fight to be number one again. Now I just want to be back on court and enjoy tennis.”
Halep’s next challenge comes in the form of Germany’s Julia Goerges. A player Halep last faced at the 2016 Miami Open. Goerges outlasted Alison Riske 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-4, in a marathon clash that lasted more than two-and-a-half hours. The German failed to convert six match points during the second set.
.@juliagoerges claims the victory over Riske, 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-4!
Advances to the @QatarTennis quarterfinals against Halep! pic.twitter.com/X8vgKyApRB
— wta (@WTA) February 13, 2019
Kerber reaches new milestone
Copyright : @Sport Vision
Elsewhere at the tournament, two-time grand slam champion Angelique Kerber recorded her 600th win on the tour at the age of 31. The third seed won 65% of her service points and blasted 10 winners past Anett Kontaveit during her 6-1, 7-6(3), victory. Kerber, who broke her opponent five times during their clash, prevailed on her eighth match point.
“In the second set, she had nothing to lose at the end,” Kerber said of Kontaveit during her press conference. “She played better and better. And, yeah, I was always really close to win the match, but she was always fighting. At the end I was happy that I closed it out in two sets and played good in the tiebreak.”
This week Kerber is seeking her first title since winning Wimbledon back in July. She will next take on Barbora Strycova, who is currently ranked fifth in the doubles. The Czech down Russian qualified Anna Blinkova 6-0, 3-6, 6-0.
“I know what to expect against her,” Kerber said. “I know that I have to play my tennis. Yeah, she played good here already. We practiced a few times together.
“You know, it will be tricky match, because you never know how the weather conditions are here as well tomorrow. But, yeah, I’m looking forward to playing another good match here.”
All four quarter-final matches will be played on Thursday at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex.
