World No.1 Simona Halep is hoping that this year’s final at the Western and Southern Open will not be a case of deja vu for her.
The French Open champion reached her second consecutive final of the season after dismissing Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 6-4. A player who scored wins over Karolina Pliskova, Caroline Garcia and Madison Keys earlier in the week. Despite only producing six winners in the match, Halep’s defensive play at times frazzled her up-and-down opponent. Sabalenka hit 30 winners, but also 36 unforced errors.
“It’s tough to fix a plan and to go there to make it, because she’s a very powerful opponent. You have just to adjust yourself there on court.” Halep said following her win.
“She’s hitting the ball very strong. The serve was huge. It was a really tough one. But I stayed there. I stayed focused. I tried to stop missing and just to push her back. I tried to return, and I think I did it pretty well. I’m happy that I could go through this one.”
Halep now has a chance to win the Cincinnati trophy for the second year in a row. In 2017 she suffered one of the heaviest defeats of her professional career. Taking on Spain’s Garbine Muguruza in the final, Halep was crushed 6-1, 6-0. When the Romanian was asked what she remembered about that loss, she stated that she has blocked that match from her memory.
Since that one-sided loss, Halep has bounced back by reaching the final of six WTA tournament, including her maiden grand slam triumph at the French Open. She is now on a nine-match winning streak after winning the Canadian Open last week. A resurgence she partly attributes to that loss to Muguruza.
“After that one (2017 Cincinnati final) I said that I will not give up like that and I will not let the pressure to dominate me.” She explained.
“So I changed that, and I feel that I can control those moments and those feelings better.”
Bertens next
On Sunday, Halep will lock horns with Dutch player Kiki Bertens. The 26-year-old bounced back from a set down to defeat Petra Kvitova 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, in her semi-final match. Bertens has managed to establish herself as one of the most inform players on the WTA Tour. Within the past two weeks, she has scored five wins over top 10 players. An impressive tally for a player who had never defeated a member of the top 10 on a hardcourt prior to this month.
“I think that’s going to be a great match.” Bertens said during her press conference. “Halep is playing some great tennis. Won of course last week. She’s having her shots there.”
“I’m really happy that I’m in this final. For me, it doesn’t matter who’s gonna win.”
Halep leads Bertens 3-1 in their head-to-head. Scoring straight sets wins over the world No.17 at Wimbledon in 2016 and at the Italian Open last year. Their first meeting dates back to a 2010 ITF $100,000 tournament in Torhout, Belgium.
“I know she hits flat. She hits, like, low, very low balls.” Halep commented about Bertens’ play. “She’s serving well. So I will try just to keep the attention on myself and to do my game.”
The women’s final will get underway at 14:00 local time on Sunday (19:00 GMT).
