Kiki Bertens topples Simona Halep to reach final showdown – Fes WTA 2012
Dutch rising star, Kiki Bertens, stunned the Romanian number one, Simona Halep, in straight sets at the Grand Prix De SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem 2012 on Friday. She jolted down a 6-3, 6-4 victory against the Constanta native
to cruise into the title-round at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International-level tournament held in Fes, Morocco.
The Dutch qualifier showed top class performance to shock Halep in their second meeting. After stealing the show in one hour and 21 minutes, Bertens not only avenged her loss at the Torhout 2 WTA event two years ago but also levelled
the head-to-head series by 1-1 against the Romanian.
"It has been a great week so far," Bertens commented in a press conference after the match. "It's my first WTA final so I think I'm going to be very nervous but I'm going to try a play it like it's just another match. It will be
tough in the final and I think there will be lots of long rallies so I'll need to be fit for tomorrow."
Bertens anxiously entered the Royal Tennis Club de Fes and held her opening serve to take the initial lead. She drew the first blood in the fourth game and then swiped in remaining serves after dusting away all six breakpoints
she faced to seal the opener by winning six games to three.
Ranked 149th in the WTA Premier Rankings, Bertens kept momentum floating into the following set and earned the coveted break in the third game to leap to a 3-1 lead. Apart from losing her edge in the sixth game, the
Dutch stayed focused and carved out the victory with a 6-4 score line after cashing in another break opportunity in the ninth game.
All in all, the 20-year-old Dutch outshined her seeded opponent completely. She committed fewer double faults and amazingly availed 31 out of 41 points on her first serve share.
Bertens will next confront Spain’s Laura Pous-Tio who rallied past the French lucky loser, Mathilde Johansson, in a three set thriller to set-up this final battle. The Spaniard was broken down five times but she capitalised on
seven out of 11 break chances to conquer the match.
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