FROM ROLAND GARROS — Simona Halep plays fantastic when she is driving and feeling very smart. Then, when she is close to winning a Grand Slam, she can get nervous and back off. The great thing on Wednesday, in the second and third set, she pushed herself from the backcourt, swinging away and bashing the ball. She beat Angie Kerber 6-7 6-3 6-2 and advanced into the semis. She will face Garbinw Muguruza, who powered past Maria Sharapova 61, 6-2.
Halep is so quick, so fast, so steady. She hits with a lot of spin, and she can flatten it out, too, from both sides. She moves around her serves, and her first serve can touch the corners. At the net, when she stops and focuses, she reacts, quickly, then touch the ball converts winners. At times, it is very difficult for her. Other times, it is simple.
Today, the two-time Grand Slam champion Kerber wasn’t crushing it, because allegedly, she was hurt. So all Halep had to do was to react, simple stuff, and win it. She did happily.
Now she has to face Muguruza, who brutalized Sharapova. The Spaniard jumped on the Russian/American almost immediately. She was moving extremely well, blasting her first serve, whipping her forehand and flipping her backhand. Inside, she realized that four years ago, she wasn’t ready yet to threaten Sharapova, but now she thinks the she can run faster, hit harder and push her back. Sharapova will continue to get better this year, but still, she cannot try to attack her shots every time. Today, that was a big mistake.
On Thursday, Muguruza will clash with Halep. Muscle time for both of them.
Here is some good quotes by Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys from a story I wrote for Tennis.com. They like each other a lot, but as she said, when they walk on the court, it’s all focusing, rather than talking.
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