Marius_Hancu
Talk Tennis Guru
It's great to see Simona Halep of Romania, the Roland Garros junior 2008 champion, coming into her own in the WTA ranks, by getting to two consecutive finals on both clay and grass and already winning one of them
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Down To Flipkens & Halep In Den Bosch
Two players on a roll are the last two standing at the Topshelf Open in 's-Hertogenbosch, as Kirsten Flipkens and Simona Halep stormed through their semifinal matches on Friday afternoon.
Published June 21, 2013 12:01
Down To Flipkens & Halep In Den Bosch
Kirsten Flipkens
'S-HERTOGENBOSCH, Netherlands - Two players on a roll are the last two standing at the Topshelf Open, as Kirsten Flipkens and Simona Halep stormed through their semifinal matches on Friday.
Watch Eastbourne & 's-Hertogenbosch all week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Halep won first, falling behind 3-1 in the first set but then reeling off seven games in a row to take total control against Carla Suárez Navarro, eventually finishing the No.3-seeded Spaniard off, 63 62.
"I was a little bit nervous at the beginning and she went up 3-1 in the first set, but from there I really tried my best and was just focusing on every point," Halep said after the match. "I had to be focused because she's a difficult player for me, and I'm very happy I was able to beat her in the end."
Halep is on an impressive run, winning 15 of her last 17 matches, including qualifying rounds.
"I played a lot of good matches with good players in Rome, and after that tournament I felt more and more confident," Halep said. "I've been feeling very good about everything, not just mentally, but also physically. I've been believing in my game a lot and playing more aggressively, and that's all."
Even more impressively, Halep won Nürnberg on clay last week, and is now in another final on grass.
"It's not easy even just to play on grass after playing so many matches on clay," Halep said. "So for me to be in the final this week, I'm really happy about it. I'm feeling good and playing well too."
It didn't take long for Flipkens to follow her into the final, as the No.4-seeded Belgian was never broken - she only faced one break point - and cruised past Spanish qualifier Garbiñe Muguruza, 63 61.
"The score was more easy than the match," Flipkens said. "In the first set there was only one break, and she's a really talented player and came out of qualies, so I knew it would be a tough match.
"But I was serving really well, and that was the difference in the end. And I had to be aggressive, because Garbiñe doesn't come off of the baseline, so I knew I couldn't just wait for her mistakes."
Halep has beaten Flipkens in both of their previous meetings.
"She's on a roll," Flipkens said. "She won a tournament last week on clay and this week is in the finals on grass, so she's an all-around player, and she's in the best shape of her life. But I am too, so I'm really looking forward to playing the final. We'll see what happens. I'm really excited about it."
"It's going to be a tough match," Halep said. "It's going to be tricky because she slices the ball a lot, but I will try my best like I've been doing all week here, and we'll see how it goes tomorrow."
Flipkens has a better record in WTA finals than Halep, though - Flipkens is 1-0, Halep is 1-3.
http://www.wtatennis.com/news/article/3216391/title/down-to-flipkens-halep-in-den-bosch
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Simona also had a great series of Victories in Rome. It took Serena to stop her:
http://www.wtatennis.com/players/player/13516/title/simona-halep
I love her down-the-T serve, also the deep, well-controlled drives from both sides.
Good luck, Simona, tomorrow and at Wimbledon.
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Down To Flipkens & Halep In Den Bosch
Two players on a roll are the last two standing at the Topshelf Open in 's-Hertogenbosch, as Kirsten Flipkens and Simona Halep stormed through their semifinal matches on Friday afternoon.
Published June 21, 2013 12:01
Down To Flipkens & Halep In Den Bosch
Kirsten Flipkens
'S-HERTOGENBOSCH, Netherlands - Two players on a roll are the last two standing at the Topshelf Open, as Kirsten Flipkens and Simona Halep stormed through their semifinal matches on Friday.
Watch Eastbourne & 's-Hertogenbosch all week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Halep won first, falling behind 3-1 in the first set but then reeling off seven games in a row to take total control against Carla Suárez Navarro, eventually finishing the No.3-seeded Spaniard off, 63 62.
"I was a little bit nervous at the beginning and she went up 3-1 in the first set, but from there I really tried my best and was just focusing on every point," Halep said after the match. "I had to be focused because she's a difficult player for me, and I'm very happy I was able to beat her in the end."
Halep is on an impressive run, winning 15 of her last 17 matches, including qualifying rounds.
"I played a lot of good matches with good players in Rome, and after that tournament I felt more and more confident," Halep said. "I've been feeling very good about everything, not just mentally, but also physically. I've been believing in my game a lot and playing more aggressively, and that's all."
Even more impressively, Halep won Nürnberg on clay last week, and is now in another final on grass.
"It's not easy even just to play on grass after playing so many matches on clay," Halep said. "So for me to be in the final this week, I'm really happy about it. I'm feeling good and playing well too."
It didn't take long for Flipkens to follow her into the final, as the No.4-seeded Belgian was never broken - she only faced one break point - and cruised past Spanish qualifier Garbiñe Muguruza, 63 61.
"The score was more easy than the match," Flipkens said. "In the first set there was only one break, and she's a really talented player and came out of qualies, so I knew it would be a tough match.
"But I was serving really well, and that was the difference in the end. And I had to be aggressive, because Garbiñe doesn't come off of the baseline, so I knew I couldn't just wait for her mistakes."
Halep has beaten Flipkens in both of their previous meetings.
"She's on a roll," Flipkens said. "She won a tournament last week on clay and this week is in the finals on grass, so she's an all-around player, and she's in the best shape of her life. But I am too, so I'm really looking forward to playing the final. We'll see what happens. I'm really excited about it."
"It's going to be a tough match," Halep said. "It's going to be tricky because she slices the ball a lot, but I will try my best like I've been doing all week here, and we'll see how it goes tomorrow."
Flipkens has a better record in WTA finals than Halep, though - Flipkens is 1-0, Halep is 1-3.
http://www.wtatennis.com/news/article/3216391/title/down-to-flipkens-halep-in-den-bosch
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Simona also had a great series of Victories in Rome. It took Serena to stop her:
http://www.wtatennis.com/players/player/13516/title/simona-halep
I love her down-the-T serve, also the deep, well-controlled drives from both sides.
Good luck, Simona, tomorrow and at Wimbledon.
Hope she quickly wins a few GS to make it up to us
