Simona Halep came back from a set and a break down to edge Barbora Krejikova 3-6 7-5 6-2 after two hours and five minutes and reached the quarter final at the Prague Open. The Romanian player needed seven match points to beat Polona Hercog in the opening round.
The first set started with four consecutive breaks. Krejikova hit three consecutive service winners to get the first hold of the match. The Czech player won 12 of the next 14 points to race out to a 5-2 lead and held her next two service games to close out the first set 6-3.
Krejikova went up a set and a break in the first game of the second set. Halep broke straight back with a lob to draw level to 1-1. Halep earned a second break with a forehand return winner to open up a 3-1 lead. Krejikova broke back in the fifth game for 2-3. Halep saved three break points to hold serve for 5-2. Halep wasted the third of four set points as she was serving for the set at 5-4. Halep earned two more set points on Krejikova’s serve with two winners at 6-5 and converted her sixth set point as Krejikova hit he backhand long.
Krejikova earned an early break in the third set and had a double break point for a 3-0 lead. Halep broke back in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2. The Romanian player saved a break point to hold serve for 3-2. Halep won the final four games to take the third set with two breaks of serve. Krejikova got a a love break, as Krejikova hit a third double fault.
Halep set up a quarter final against Polish lucky loser Magdalena Frech, who edged Aranxta Rus 6-3 2-6 6-4 in two hours and eight minutes.
Canadian wildcard Eugenie Bouchard battled past Tamara Zidansek 7-6 (7-2) 6-7 (2-7) 6-2 after 2 hours and 53 minutes avenging a 6-3 5-7 8-6 defeat at Wimbledon last year.
Bouchard earned the first break in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead with a pass after four deuces. The Canadian player saved a break point at 4-4.
Bouchard came through a battle to break serve for 6-5, but she was unable to serve the set out. The former Wimbledon champion won the tie-break 7-2 with her fifth ace.
Bouchard broke serve in the fourth game of the second set to open up a 4-1 lead. Zidansek earned a break-back point when Bouchard made a double fault and converted it with a net cord.
Zidansek forced a tie-break with two holds of serve and cruised through to a 7-2 win, as Bouchard made a double fault and a groundstroke error.
Bouchard earned an immediate break at the start of the third set with a backhand wiiner. The 2014 Nurnberg broke for the second time to open up a 5-1 lead. She fended off a break point, as she was serving for the win. She sealed the win after a series of Zidansek goundstrokes over the baseline.
“I felt OK out there. At times I played well but at times I didn’t play well at all. When I was not playing well, I felt she was controlling the play with her forehand, and when I was playing playing well I was dominating little more. Ultimately that’s how I played in the third set to win. I was pretty proud of myself with how I was able to bounce back after losing the second set”, said Bouchard.
