By Chris Oddo | Wednesday June 6, 2018
Top-seeded Simona Halep overcame a sluggish start to defeat Angelique Kerber and reach the Roland Garros semifinals for the third time.
Photo Source: Cameron Spencer/Getty
Simona Halep rallied for a 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-2 victory over Angelique Kerber, eliminating the German from a major for the second time this season and setting up a battle for No.1 with Spain’s Garbiñe Muguruza on Wednesday at Roland Garros.
More #RG18: Muguruza Trounces Sharapova | Murray Delays Comeback | Check out Cecchinato
The Romanian improved to a perfect 3-0 in Roland Garros semifinals and inched closer to a long-coveted maiden Grand Slam title, outplaying Kerber in the final two sets—she made 30 unforced errors in the opening set, many of which came in a barrage in the first set tiebreaker after she had rallied back from 4-0 down in set one—and controlled the run of play to defeat Kerber for the sixth time in ten career meetings.
The turnaround in sets two and three was drastic for Halep. She surrendered 25 points on serve in the opener and just 14 the rest of the way. She faced nine break points in the opener and just three the rest of the way.
It’s more proof that Halep has hardened over the years, and despite her earned reputation as a hard-luck loser she is doing everything possible to give herself chances deep in majors—and that includes using guile and fortitude to turn around difficult matches, ones that she used to end up on the losing end of.
Halep broke immediately in the second set and saved a break point to hold for 5-3 before breaking again to force a decider.
In the second set it was more of the same after an early trade of breaks.
Kerber had to see the trainer for a foot issue after three games and after she returned she only managed one of the final six games.
Halep’s victory sets up a battle for No.1 with Muguruza, who rocked Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-1 in quarterfinal action on Day 11 in Paris. The Spaniard handed Halep one of those aforementioned hard-luck losses in last year’s Cincinnati final, dropping just one game against Halep in a match that would have seen the Romanian rise to No.1 for the first time if she had won.
Nine months later Halep has bounced back—she is the current No.1 and has held the top ranking for 31 weeks in total—but still lacks a major title after three trips to the final. She’ll have to get past a dialed-in Muguruza if she is to avoid the same fate that has been dealt to her on so many occasions on the game’s grandest stages.
2016 champion Muguruza has dropped just 20 games in five rounds in Paris—there probably isn’t a worse time to face a generational talent like the Spaniard who seems to become more daunting with each passing round in Paris much in the same fashion that she did at Wimbledon last year and at Roland Garros in 2016 when she made her previous two title runs.
Halep, 26, needs to practice what she preaches and see the showdown as an opportunity rather than a losing proposition. If pressure is truly a privilege than Halep is one of the most privileged women on tour. Since the beginning of 2015 she has been to at least the quarterfinals in two majors every season, including three finals.
Her breakthrough is clearly coming, the question isn’t if but when.