Simona Halep trounces Sofia Arvidsson to reach title-round – Brussels Open 2012
Romanian number one, Simona Halep, stomped over the Swedish star, Sofia Arvidsson, in straight sets at the Brussels Open 2012 on Friday. She juggled up a 6-4, 6-3 success against the world number 62 to power into the final showdown at this WTA (Women’s Tennis
Association) International-level tournament taking place in Brussels, Germany.
The 20-year-old needed one hour and 20 minutes to outclass Arvidsson in their first meeting. After earning this victory, Halep not only edged in the head-to-head series by 1-0 against the Swede but also booked a spot in the final round to bid for her maiden
WTA title.
"I'm excited because it's my first Premier final," Halep was quoted afterwards. "From 3-4 in the first set I really started to believe I could win. It was windy, and my backhand didn't work like it did yesterday, but I played well overall. My coach told
me to believe and stay focused every point, and just play my game, and it worked."
Halep thundered into the Royal Primerose Tennis Club and jumped to a 3-0 lead with two breaks of serve. Apart from losing the following four games in a row, she stayed calm and levelled the scores at 4-4. The Romanian got the breakthrough in the ninth game
and clinched the opener with a 6-4 score line.
Ranked 49th in the WTA Premier Rankings, Halep lost her path towards the proceeding set and suffered the initial blow in the fourth game to trail at 1-3. However, she made a spectacular reply and went on a six-game killing spree. The Romanian
blocked one out of two breakpoints she faced and cashed in half of the six break chances to formulate a 6-3 victory.
All in all, the Romanian manipulated a better first serve share of 67 per cent as compared to her opponent’s 62 per cent and impressively availed 25 out of 37 points on it.
Halep will confront the top seed, Agnieszka Radwanska, in the final round. The world number three downed the eighth seed, Kaia Kanepi, in almost two hours to rule the match.
Radwanska exchanged two serve breaks to drag the set to the tie-breaker. She edged past the Estonian in it and clinched the opening set with a 7-6(8) score line.
The 23-year-old improved her game in the second set and despite losing her serve once, she capitalised on two out of six break chances to formulate a 6-3 success.
The Pole also took advantage of the six double faults Kanepi spilled and ended the match with 86 points.
Tags: