Halep, Suarez-Navarro Upset in Birmingham
The Aegon Classic’s top-seed saw her tournament come to an end on Friday, as Kristina Mladenovic defeated world number three Simona Halep 2-6, 6-0, 7-6(4) in Birmingham, England.
After being handled in the opening set, Mladenovic won 11 of the next 14 games to even the match at one set a piece and take a 5-3 lead in the third.
But Halep broke back and forced a third-set tie-breaker. Mladenovic hung tough though, and used a deadly drop shot to win some key points in the breaker and hold on for her fifth win over a top 10 opponent.
“It was an amazing match and a big win for me today,” said Mladenovic. “I don’t know if it’s the best one—I’ve had a few matches where I’ve beaten top 10 players—but it’s an amazing feeling to beat Simona in this way because she’s such a good player.”
Mladenovic was able to break Halep four times and nine tries and was efficient on her first serve, winning 78 percent of the points when she was able to get her first serve in.
“I think she was very solid in the first set and I was struggling with my rhythm and the sun,” she added. “In the second I just tried to start over again and be aggressive and she perhaps gave me a couple of unforced errors that got me back in the match. But I think it was a great quality match, especially because it’s on grass and it’s always tough to find a rhythm.”
In the semis, Mladenovic will meet sixth-seed Karolina Pliskova, who notched a big win of her own, defeating third-seeded Spaniard Carla Suarez-Navarro 6-2, 6-2.
“I was feeling really great today,” said Pliskova. “I’ve already won two matches so I’m feeling really confident on grass. This was my best match here and I’m just really happy that my game is improving.”
Fourth-seed Angelique Kerber made her way into the other semifinal, beating Czech Katerina Siniakova 6-2, 6-4 on Friday.
Kerber will take on fellow German Sabine Lisicki, who downed Serbia’s Daniela Hantuchova 7-6(2), 6-2.
