Halep Cruises, While Kvitova is Upset in Shenzhen Semis
The Shenzhen Open’s two top seeds were on court at the Chinese tournament’s semifinals on Friday, but only one of them was able to make it through to the final. Top-seeded Simona Halep disposed of WTA Rising Star Saisai Zheng 6-2, 6-3, winning five of the eight break point chances she had to wrap up the victory in less than an hour and a half.
“It was a tough match—she played really well in the second set,” said Halep. “I was a little bit nervous, but I stayed focused and it worked very well for me because I was able to come back. It’s difficult to play someone for the first time, but I think I did a good job today.”
The tournament’s second-seed Petra Kvitova did not share the same fate as Halep, losing to eight-seeded Timea Bacsinszky in straight sets 6-4, 6-4.
The Swiss used an efficient serve to move past her Czech opponent. Bacsinszky fired four aces and held serve on nine of her 10 service games. In contrast, Kvitova had her serve broken three times throughout the match which turned out to be the deciding factor.
“Timea played really well. She has a really great backhand. Her forehand has more topspin, which is a little bit different. She served well in the important points too,” said Kvitova of her opponent. “She played really well. She definitely did what she had to do to beat me today.”
Bacsinszky has resurrected her career after injuries set her back a few years ago. She reached her career high ranking of 37 in 2010, but slipped all the way to 578th in the world as recent as 2012.
She entered 2014 ranked 237th in the world but finished the year at 47. Her win over Kvitova, the fourth-ranked player in the world, will certainly help her improve that ranking going forward.
Halep and Bacsinszky have met just once in their careers which was a Halep victory in Belgium back in 2010.
