French Open runner-up Simona Halep continued her world No.1 bid with a 7-5, 6-3, win over Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia at Wimbledon.
The disparity between the two players is noticeable. World No.97 Haddad Maia was making her Wimbledon debut in what was only her second main draw grand slam match. Meanwhile Halep is participating in her 29th major tournament.
Still, it was a far from straightforward encounter for the Romanian, who had to battled back from a 0-3 deficit at the start of the match. The Brazilian showed little signs of being intimidated early on, but it was Halep’s experience and accurate shot-making that prevailed.
“She doesn’t have a weakness that much. Both shots are pretty strong, and also the serve. She came to the net. I think was a good level of tennis.” Halep said about her Brazilian rival.
The signs from Halep are positive, but she refuses to get carried away. Her loss to Jelena Ostapenko has provided her with much food for thought. Admitted that one improvement she needs to make in her game is ‘to be more aggressive when leading,’ Halep remains weary of her opponents in the draw.
“Every match is tough, and you never know what is going to happen.”
The second seed will next play Peng Shuai, a player she described as ‘very dangerous.’
Williams progress
Five-time champion Venus Williams was given a stern test in her second round clash against China’s Wang Qiang. In what was a rematch of their first round encounter at the French Open, Williams held her nerve to prevail 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
“I think she just toward the end of the first set started landing a lot of shots. I didn’t do a ton wrong. She just had an opportunity to be more aggressive. I had to at that point focus on the next two sets.” Williams evaluated about her performance.
Tuesday’s match was Williams’ 97th at SW19 and her 83rd victory. In the Open Era only sister Serena, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova has won more matches in the women’s draw at Wimbledon. The 37-year-old was unaware of the fact, but is now eager to reach the magic 100 mark.
“I never look at the stats. So, wow. I’d love to reach 100. That would be awesome.”
It will be a tale of old Vs. young in Williams’ third round clash against Naomi Osaka, a player who idolised the Williams sisters growing up. When the 10th seed made her tournament debut at Wimbledon in 1997, her upcoming opponent wasn’t even born. Looking ahead to the meeting, Williams has said that the Japanese player has a similar playing style to her. A comment that has left Osaka somewhat star-struck.
“I’m kind of honored, because I don’t think I would have started playing if Venus and Serena weren’t, like, there for me growing up.” The 19-year-old said.
“I mean, it’s kind of weird to hear that she, like, maybe she even talked about me.”
Elsewhere at the tournament, Elina Svitolina crushed Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-0, in less than an hour. Meanwhile, Ostapenko survived a scare to defeat Françoise Abanda 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-3.
List of results
(2) Simona Halep def. Beatriz Haddad Maia, 7-5, 6-3
(4) Elina Svitolina def. Francesca Schiavone, 6-3, 6-0
(6) Johanna Konta def. Donna Vekic, 7-6(4), 4-6, 10-8
(8) Dominika Cibulkova def. Jennifer Brady, 6-4, 6-4
(10) Venus Williams def. Qiang Wang, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
Madison Brengle def. (11) Petra Kvitova, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2
Victoria Azarenka def. (15) Elina Vesnina, 6-3, 6-3
Heather Watson def. (18) Anastasija Sevastova, 6-0, 6-4
(21) Caroline Garcia def. Ana Bogdan, 6-4, 6-3
Naomi Osaka def. (22) Barbora Strycova, 6-1, 0-6, 6-4
(27) Ana Konjuh def. Irina-Camelia Begu, 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-3
