Shenzhen: World No.1 Simona Halep of Romania tamed compatriot Irina-Camelia Begu in straight sets to reach the final of the Shenzhen Open tennis tournament here Friday. However, the chances of a Halep and former World No.1 Maria Sharapova final vanished into thin air as the Russian lost her semifinal to defending champion Katerina Siniakova.
Halep, who hit 15 winners to win 6-1, 6-4 in 89 minutes, relied on precision and counter-punching in a tight second set to seal a second career final here.
Top seed Halep broke her rival early in the contest to race to a 4-1 lead. Begu sent a forehand wide in a see-sawing sixth game as Halep broke again and took the first set on serve.
Begu, seeking a first win over Halep in her sixth attempt, fought back after an early break to lead 3-2 in the second set. She attacked her rival with great gusto but Halep subdued the comeback attempt and sealed the match.
“It was a tough match,” Halep said in a courtside interview. “I know she is a strong player and in the second set you could see she was improving her game so it was a tougher battle. I think I was strong enough to stay there and hit the ball stronger in the end and that proved to be crucial.”
Sharapova, on the other hand committed far too many unforced errors to lose the match against Siniakova 2-6, 6-3, 3-6. She hit 26 winners but the mistakes were more than double in number.
In the first set she lost her serve in the fourth sending three backhands wide and that gave Siniakova the chance she was looking for. Break sealed, the Czech player again broke Sharapova in the eighth game to seal the set.
In the second set, Sharpova regained her touch and reeled of five games in a row after being a break down to restore parity in the match. But then again the errors crept in midway into the third set. She double faulted twice in the eight game to hand a crucial break to Siniakova and she closed out the match without much ado.
Agencies
