Simona Halep

“Dominant” Simona Halep and Serena Williams Favorites To Win Australian Women’s Title

December 26, 2018 by tennisbloggers

ESPN recently named Simona Halep as one of the most dominant athletes of 2018.

Many have debated whether the diminutive Romanian was in fact, dominant. In a head-scratcher, she was ranked as more dominant than LeBron James of the NBA as well as golfer Brooks Koepka and fellow tennis player Novak Djokovic, both of whom won two of the four major titles for the year in a golf and tennis, respectively.

In fact, the great thing about women’s tennis over the last few years is the fact that there hasn’t been any dominant player and that each major tournament has been an exciting battle for the title, waged between eight to 12 players who have legitimate chances of raising the championship trophy.

As the world No. 1, Halep can be seen as the favorite to win the first major championship of 2019 at the Australian Open. However, she has only broken through in a major final once, last year at Roland Garros against Sloane Stephens. Last year in Australia, she lost a hard-fought, tight final to Caroline Wozniacki, but was resilient and tenacious in reaching the final.

The major wildcard in this year’s Australian Open field will be Serena Williams, who will be playing in her first tournament since her much-discussed U.S. Open loss to Naomi Osaka. She hasn’t played in Australia since she won the title, while pregnant, in 2017, her last event before giving birth to daughter Olympia. Serena will be gunning for her 24th career major singles title, which would tie her for the all-time record set by Australian Margaret Court in the 1960s and 1970s. The Australian Open would be an appropriate venue for Serena to equal this mark. She will be extra motivated to right the wrong she felt she was given in her controversial U.S. Open final loss where point and game penalties, she felt, where wrongly administered.

Serena will probably be one of the more popular tennis betting favorites to win in Australia. Since the tournament comes so early in the year – and after the short off-season – unpredictable results are also common. Therefore, some longer-shot players, with potential to win majors, should also not be overlooked, such as American Madison Keys, a former Australian Open semifinalist, the highly-touted Aryna Sabalenka or even home-favorite Ashleigh Barty of Australia.

Wide Open Field For WTA Finals In Singapore But Who Is The Favorite?

October 17, 2018 by tennisbloggers

Karolina Pliskova and Elina Svitolina are the last two player to qualify for the eight-player year-end 2018 BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global that will take place from October 21-28, 2018.

Pliskova and Svitolina round out the singles field, joining Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber, US Open champion Naomi Osaka, two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, Dutch star Kiki Bertens, Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki and 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens in Singapore. The eight players will compete for $7 million in prize money and bragging rights as to who can lay claim to be the “best of the year” for the 2018 season.

Women’s tennis has been as unpredictably exciting the last few years, illustrated by the fact that over the last eight major championships, eight different champions have been crowned.

Pliskova has earned her WTA Finals spot with two wins this season – in Stuttgart and at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. Said Pliskova, “I can’t wait to close out the year competing against the other elite players of 2018.”

Svitolina won three titles in three final-round appearances in 2018, lifting trophies in Brisbane, Dubai and Rome. The Ukrainian reached the quarterfinal stage at the Australian Open and made the round of 16 at the US Open, maintaining her Top 10 ranking all season long.

While many pointed to world No. 1 Simona Halep, the world No. 1, as the favorite, her health has been a major concern, causing her to pull out of the event in Moscow this week as well as Singapore and will not play again until 2019.

Wozniacki, the world No. 2, has shown a return-to-form with her recent victory in Beijing and could be the WTA betting favorite in Singapore because of this, Halep’s injury, and the fact that she is the defending champion, having beaten Venus Williams in Singapore last year. Following her break-through win at the Australian Open, her first major singles title, Wozniacki returned to the No. 1 ranking but struggled to maintain that form for most of the rest of the year, only winning in Eastbourne in June on grass.

Osaka turned the tennis world on its head with her shocking final-round win over Serena Williams at the U.S. Open and has handled the spotlight well since her maiden major victory in New York. She reached the final in Tokyo in her first event after her U.S. Open win, not an easy task, especially under the immense media scrutiny in her home nation. She also reached the semifinals of Beijing. She is trending upwards and could also cap her most impressive year with a title in Singapore.

Said WTA CEO & Chairman Steve Simon of the event, “Singapore will be an exciting week for women’s tennis, as the Top 8 singles players…are ready to compete for this prestigious title while celebrating an amazing five-year legacy in this wonderful city.”

Staged at the Singapore Sports Hub from October 21-28, the 2018 BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global is a 10-day tennis festival featuring the world’s best players vying for a US$7 million in prize money and two of the most prestigious titles in women’s tennis. The Top 8 singles players will compete in a round-robin format with the winner taking home the Billie Jean King Trophy. For more information, go to www.WTAFinals.com

World No. 1s Rafael Nadal and Simona Halep Win Rogers Cup Titles

August 12, 2018 by tennisbloggers

The world’s No. 1-ranked players each outlasted their challengers in Canada this week, as Rafael Nadal and Simona Halep took home the Rogers Cup singles titles.

Nadal won his record-extending 33rd ATP Masters 1000 title with a 6-2, 7-6(4), defeat of Stefanos Tsitsipas in Toronto. Nadal’s fourth Rogers Cup triumph ended an inspired breakout performance from the young Greek, who turned 20 on Sunday after a week in which he defeated four Top-10 seeds in Dominic Thiem, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Kevin Anderson to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 final.

Halep won a rematch of the French Open championship, defeating American Sloane Stephens, 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-4, in Montreal. It was Halep’s second Rogers Cup title in the last three years, while the No. 3-ranked Stephens reached the Rogers Cup final for the first time, after having made the semifinals last year in Toronto to jump-start her summer that culminated with winning the US Open championship.

The world’s best players now converge on Cincinnati, as the US Open Series continues with the Western & Southern Open. A deep women’s draw includes two-time Cincinnati champion Serena Williams, Stephens, Madison Keys, CoCo Vandeweghe, Danielle Collins, 16-year old Amanda Anisimova and Bethanie Mattek-Sands. The men’s field features 2013 Cincinnati finalist John Isner, Sam Querrey, Steve Johnson, Jack Sock, Frances Tiafoe and Mackenzie McDonald.

ESPN2 picks up its coverage from Cincinnati on Thursday, beginning at 1 p.m., and will carry matches through Sunday’s finals, beginning at 2 p.m. ET. Tennis Channel begins its weeklong coverage with Monday’s first round. See the full summer TV schedule here.

Simona Halep Shows Resiliency In Breakthrough French Open Victory

June 9, 2018 by tennisbloggers

Down a set and break in the French Open final, it looked like a familiar refrain for Simona Halep – not being able to rise to the occasion and win a major final.

However, the 26-year-old Romanian, previously 0-3 in major finals and ranked No. 1 in the world despite her lack of success on the highest levels of pro tennis, was able to show amazing resiliency and win her first major championships at the French Open, defeating reigning US Open champion Sloane Stephens 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the final.

“All the experience from those three finals that I lost … was a positive thing,” Halep said, “and gave me a little bit more power to believe.”

“That’s the most important thing — that I stay there focused,” said Halep, the first Romanian to win a major singles title since her agent Virginia Ruzici, ironically 40 years earlier at the 1978 French Open. “I believed. And I never gave up.”

Halep lost two previous finals at the French Open — against Maria Sharapova in 2014 as the underdog in a three-set slugfest, then as the heavy favorite last year against unseeded Jelena Ostapenko despite leading by a set and 3-0. Her third runner-up finish came against Caroline Wozniacki at the Australian Open in January, where she lost a tight three-set battle.

“Her journey has been tough. And she had a heartbreak here last year and in Australia and all the things that have happened to her,” Stephens said. “I mean, it’s a great story and just a great moment for her.”

From 4-4 in the second set, Halep won seven games in a row to take a 5-0 lead in the final set as Stephens appeared to tire.

Expect The Unexpected At The 2018 Australian Open

January 11, 2018 by tennisbloggers

The Australian Open has a history of producing unpredictable results with healthy helping of long-shot champions, finalists and semifinalists. A primary reason for this is because the event is played in the third week of the tennis season and a players off-season training – or lack thereof – showcases itself.

Injuries and comebacks are the major theme heading into the 2018 Australian Open. On the men’s side, five-time finalist Andy Murray is out of the event after undergoing hip surgery. Former top 10 star Kei Nishikori of Japan is also not competing due to injury. Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka are expected to post in their returns to tournament tennis. Djokovic has not played since last summer with a right elbow injury. Wawrinka has also not played since the summer after undergoing knee surgery.

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal had a much shorter injury layoff, not playing an official tournament since having to withdraw from the ATP World Tour Finals at the end of the 2017 season with a hampered knee.

The Australian Open has a long history of long-shots advancing deep into the tournament and also claiming the men’s and women’s singles titles. On the men’s side, some most recent surprise performances have been champions Petr Korda (1999), Thomas Johannsson (2002) and also Marcos Baghdatis, Fernando Gonzalez and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who made their only major singles final appearances in 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively. Since then, winners and runners-up have been among the elite of the elite – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray – with the lone exception being Stan Wawrinka, who was ranked No. 9 when he won his first major title in Melbourne in 2014.

In 2017, Grigor Dimitrov had another breakthrough major tournament by reaching the semifinals, where he lost in an epic five-set thriller to Nadal. After his victory at the year-end ATP World Tour Finals in London to end 2017, Dimitrov is the top choice to win the title in Melbourne this year other than No. 1 Nadal and No. 2 seed and defending champion Roger Federer. Austria’s Dominic Thiem, ranked No. 5, and Germany’s Alexander Zverev, ranked No. 4, are also poised for greatness and could begin this next generation of champions with an Australian Open win. Australia’s immensely talented Nick Kyrgios, ranked No. 17, could put his temperament aside and rise the tide of local support to fulfill his massive potential. His title in Brisbane leading into the event have buoyed his tennis betting odds.

On the women’s side, the Australian Open has also crowned unheralded champions such as Kerry Reid in 1977, Chris O’Neil in 1978 and Barbara Jordan in 1979. Angelique Kerber was the Australian Open surprise in 2016, winning her first major title with a final-round upset of world No. 1 Serena Williams. Kerber and 2008 champion Maria Sharapova are the only two former Australian Open winners in the 2018 women’s singles field. Defending champion Serena Williams has pulled out of the event, not feeling her post-pregnancy comeback has progressed fast enough for her liking. Vika Azarenka, the 2012 and 2013 Australian Open champion, also pulled out of the event since she is not able to travel overseas in a custody battle of her son.

The top two women’s seeds, Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki respectively, have never won a major singles title, which may place No. 3 seed Garbine Muguruza, the 2016 French Open and 2017 Wimbledon champion, as the favorite. Elina Svitolina, the No. 4 seed, has also never won a major singles title but appears as though she is a future candidate for that role and Australia would be an appropriate stage for this kind of breakthrough.

Johanna Konta of Britain, born in Australia and ranked No. 9, may be a surprise pick to win the title. She was a surprise semifinalist Down Under in 2016 and also at Wimbledon in 2017 so she could make a move to a later round.

Simona Halep Wins Shenzhen Open Title In China

January 6, 2018 by tennisbloggers

Romanian World No.1 Simona Halep enjoyed a winning start to her season as she lifted the Shenzhen Open singles title with a strong 6-1, 2-6, 6-0 victory over defending champion Katerina Siniakova in 74 minutes.

After a four hour rain delay, the match was played at the indoor tennis stadium of the Shenzhen Longgang Sports Centre.

The singles top seed did not face a single break point and won 70% of her service points in a powerful first set display but had her serve broken three times in the second as her 21-year-old Czech opponent staged a comeback.

However, 26-year-old Halep showed just why she was the world No.1 in the final set, winning 24 out of 30 points as she served her opponent a bagel to complete the victory in some style. The trophy marks Halep’s sixteenth career title and second here in Shenzhen after her win in 2015.

“It’s been a great week for me as I’ve been playing very well. It was a difficult match and (Siniakova) played very well. She beat Sharapova which is great – I know that feeling. I think we had a great match today. I tried everything to win. I was a little bit less nervous and just tried to enjoy the moment even if we are playing indoors. It’s not easy but we did our job and I’m happy that I could win the first title of the year,” said Halep.

En route to the title, Halep defeated American Nicole Gibbs in the first round, China’ Duan Ying-Ying in the second, Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinal and fourth seeded compatriot Irina-Camelia Begu in yesterday’s semifinal. The Romanian only dropped two sets the entire tournament.

World No. 47 Siniakova, who defeated Halep in the second round here last year, paid tribute to her opponent’s performance.

“I didn’t play as well as I did last year in the final but Simona really played well today. It’s a good start to the season for me, but of course, a better start for Simona. Last season I won two titles after making the final here so hopefully I can get more titles again this year,” said Siniakova, who was the singles sixth seed.

Both Halep and Siniakova are also in the doubles finals with their respective partners Begu and Barbora Krejcikova. The match commenced just over thirty minutes after the singles final was completed.

The Shenzhen Open is organized by the Chinese Tennis Association, Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sport and Tourism and CCTV-IMG Sports Management Company and is co-organized by the Bureau of Culture, Sport and Tourism of Longgang District, Shenzhen Gemdale Sports Industry Co. Ltd. and Kaisa Culture Sports & Tourism Group.

The event is proud to have prestigious commercial sponsors that include the premier sponsors Kaisa Group and Gemdale Group together with Crowne Plaza Shenzhen Longgang City Center, Iqiyi Sports, Erke, Life Fitness, Yonex, Head and Master Kong You Yue Purified Drinking Water.

The official tournament website www.ShenzhenOpenTennis.com has additional information about the tournament.

Caroline Wozniacki Wins Singapore, Simona Halep Finishes Year-End No. 1

October 29, 2017 by tennisbloggers

In a battle of two former WTA World No.1s, Caroline Wozniacki defeated Venus Williams to lift the Billie Jean King Trophy at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global today, October 29.

In their eighth career meeting, the Dane notched her first win over the American, powering to a straight sets victory (6-4, 6-4) to clinch her 27th and biggest title of her career.

“To be here with the trophy means a lot, and it’s a great way to finish off the year,” said Wozniacki. “I’m really proud of how I have played all week and how I really produced some great fighting out there.”

Despite not qualifying for the semifinals in the round-robin format, Simona Halep clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking on the WTA Tour.

Since the inception of computer rankings in 1975, Halep becomes the 13th WTA player to achieve the year-end No.1 singles ranking, and the first from Romania.

“Our congratulations to Simona Halep who is a worthy winner of the WTA year-end World No.1 singles ranking. Simona has had a great season, winning the title in Madrid and reaching the final at Roland Garros,” said Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman & CEO, Dubai Duty Free. “We wish her well for the remainder of the year and look forward to seeing her play in Dubai in the near future, where she won the title in 2015 and has many ardent fans.”

The Romanian became the 25th player to achieve the No.1 ranking on October 9, 2017 following her 27th career WTA final at the China Open in Beijing, and is ensured to retain the position as the top player for the rest of the year.

“I’m very proud to end the season as the WTA World No.1,” said Halep. “I have worked extremely hard to be the best player I can be, and it is an honor to be in the No.1 position at the end of the year.”

Halep has enjoyed another consistent season, highlighted by defending her title at the Mutua Madrid Open and reaching her second Grand Slam final at Roland Garros. In addition, the 26-year-old reached the title match at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (Rome), Western & Southern Open (Cincinnati) and the China Open (Beijing), earning her fourth consecutive qualification at the year-end BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

This season, Halep also made a quarterfinal run at Wimbledon, as well as semifinal showings at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart) and Rogers Cup (Toronto).

Halep entered the Top 10 for the first time on January 27, 2014, and has maintained her Top 10 status for 196 consecutive weeks. Having made her debut in the Top 5 in the spring of 2014, the Romanian has spent just eight weeks below that threshold.

The WTA Year-End No.1 trophy was presented to Halep by WTA President, Micky Lawler.

Jelena Ostapenko Creates Fascinating Tennis Trivia, Talking Points In Roland Garros Victory

June 10, 2017 by tennisbloggers

by Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

There are too many fascinating facts about Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia winning the women’s singles title at Roland Garros not to share.

The 20-year-old No. 47-ranked defeated Simona Halep 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the final to become not only the first player from Latvia to win a major championship, but became the first unseeded player to win the women’s title since Margaret Scriven in 1933. Since there are now 32 seeded players in major championships (since 2001), this is an even more outstanding statistic when only 16 players were seeded in most championships – or even only eight in 1933 when Scriven won.

Incredibly, Ostapenko had never won a professional tournament before her dramatic win in Paris. She became the first player to make Roland Garros their maiden pro tournament victory since Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil did the same as the No. 66-ranked player – on the exact day that Ostapenko was born, June 8, 1997.

On Thursday, June 8, 2017 – Ostapenko’s 20^th birthday – she advanced into the women’s final with 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-3 win over Timea Bacsinsky, who was also celebrating her birthday, turning 28.

Halep, who would have won her first major championship and secure the world No. 1 ranking with the win, led the match 6-4, 3-0 but was not able to close out the match against the loose and free-hitting Ostapenko. Halep also led 3-1 in the final set but, again, could not close out the championship. In one of the most famous – or infamous – let-cord shots in the history of tennis, Ostapenko secured her crucial service break when she hit a down-the-line backhand that was heading wide, but clipped the top of the net, bouncing high in the air while also ricocheting back into the court for a winner.

Ostapenko hit an equalizing 54 winners and 54 unforced errors in the final.

Ostapenko becomes the lowest-RANKED player to win a major singles title since Serena Williams won the 2007 Australian Open when she was ranked No. 81. Kim Clijsters won the 2009 US Open when she did not have a ranking, returning to pro tennis after retirement to have a child.

Simona Halep Continues Silent U.S. Open Run

September 3, 2016 by tennisbloggers

by Kevin Craig

@KCraig_Tennis

Simona Halep was able to fight off a valiant effort from the No. 31 seed Timea Babos of Hungary on Saturday at the US Open, solidifying her spot in the fourth round of the US Open with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 win.

“I don’t know how I came back. I felt like I didn’t play my best but I was fighting to the end for every ball,” said Halep.

The 5th seeded had been struggling in 2016, by her standards, but has managed to turn that form around in the past few months. Since May, when her ranking fell to No. 7 after having been ranked No. 2 at the start of the year, Halep has a 29-4 record. During that impressive run of form, the Romanian has racked up three titles, two of which were Premier level events, and had a 13-match win streak.

To no one’s surprise, Halep has continued to play well in New York, not dropping a set in her first two matches. Babos, though, gave Halep her first scare of the tournament, and almost sent her packing.

In the first set on Arthur Ashe Stadium, Halep looked to be in the same form she has been all summer, breaking Babos three times and saving the two break points she faced in the set. She only had difficulty in one of her three service games of the set, as she only dropped one point in the other two games.

Babos looked to have things figured out early on in the second set, as she took Halep to deuce in her first service game of the set before breaking the Romanian the next three times. Those three breaks for Babos were more than enough to level the match at one set each.

In the third, the Hungarian continued to have the momentum on her side as she broke Halep for the fourth time in a row to go up a break in the first game. Serving at 3-2, though, Babos finally cracked and the 2014 French Open runner-up broke back, but almost gave up another break at 4-4 as she had to dig out of a 15-40 hole to hold. In the next game, though, Halep was able to break Babos to close out the nervy three-set victory.

“I was trying to push her back. I was trying to run for every ball. I did everything I could today and I’m really happy I could finish the match in my way,” said Halep.

The 24-year old Halep, who was a point away from letting her opponent serve for the match, is now into the fourth round of a major for the third major in a row and the ninth time in her career. She will take on the No. 11 seed Carla Suarez Navarro for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Martina Hingis Returns To No. 1 Doubles Ranking – Passing Shots With Kevin Craig

January 17, 2016 by tennisbloggers

by Kevin Craig

@KCraig_Tennis

Bob and Mike Bryan are the No. 3 seeds in the men’s doubles draw at the 2016 Australian Open. The last time the Bryans were seeded lower than No. 2 at a grand slam was at the French Open in 2005, where they would go on to make the final.
American Nicole Gibbs was able to qualify for the main draw of the Australian Open without dropping a set. In her three matches, Gibbs was able to win more than half of her return points, 52 percent, allowing her to break her opponents 15 times total.
Viktor Troicki was able to defend his title in Sydney, defeating Grigor Dimitrov 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(7). Troicki became the first man to win back to back titles in Sydney since James Blake did so in 2006 and 2007. Prior to his loss in the final, Dimitrov had won 11 consecutive deciding set tiebreakers. The last time Dimitrov had lost a deciding set tiebreak before this was in 2012 against Donald Young in Memphis. The man who holds the record for most deciding set tiebreakers won consecutively is Carlos Moya with 17.
In the Simona Halep – Svetlana Kuznetsova semifinal match in Sydney, Halep was able to win almost every statistical category, yet she lost the match. Kuznetsova won 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3, despite winning five less points than Halep did. Kuznetsova went on to win the title, defeating Monica Puig in straight sets in the final.
The doubles team of Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza won their 30^th match in a row by defeating Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic in the final in Sydney. The longest win streak by a women’s doubles team is held by Jana Novotna and Helena Sukova at 44. With the title, Hingis will join Mirza as co-No. 1 doubles players, seeing Hingis return to No. 1 in the rankings for the first time since 2000.
Also in Sydney, Teymuraz Gabashvili was able to make his first ATP semifinal after going 0-16 in ATP quarterfinal matches to start his career.
Mikhail Youzhny won his second challenger tournament in a row, defeating Adam Pavlasek in Bangkok, 6-4, 6-1. The win will boost Youzhny back into the Top 100 after having been outside of the Top 150 as recently as November of 2015.
Three tournaments in the United States have taken place on the futures circuit in 2016 so far, and each event has seen a different American teen reach the final. Stefan Kozlov won in Los Angeles in the first week of the season, while Tommy Paul won in Plantation and Michael Mmoh lost the final in Long Beach in the second week.