By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, March 15, 2022
Simona Halep dispatched Sorana Cirstea 6-1, 6-4—her 18th straight win against a fellow Romanian—to streak into the Indian Wells quarterfinals.
Photo credit: Getty
Romania boasts a proud tennis tradition that continues with six women ranked in the Top 100.
Few want a piece of Simona Halep.
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Former world No. 1 Halep reaffirmed her reputation as Romanian ruler dispatching compatriot Sorana Cirstea 6-1, 6-4 to become the first woman into the BNP Paribas Open quarterfinals.
Halep converted five of six break points in a solid one hour, 22-minute triumph.
"I feel like I played perfect in the first set. I knew what I have to do," Halep said. "The second set was a little bit tougher because I started to miss also.
"She started to play a little bit better. But I think it's a strong victory for me and I'm really happy that I could finish in two sets and that I could play like that."
Since losing to Cirstea in the 2010 Cincinnati qualifying, Halep has owned her compatriots compiling a 19-0 record against her compatriots. However, Halep said it always feels a bit more stressful playing another Romanian.
"I think everybody has a little bit of stress when it's playing against a person that is from the same country," Halep said. "But I can say I'm used to it. I've played so many times with all the Romanians.
"But with her I didn't play in the last 12 years, so it was something new. I didn't know actually what to expect. We practiced a few times only during the year, so it was really something new."
The 2015 Indian Wells champion raised her 2022 record to 14-3. Halep will play for a fourth trip to the BNP Paribas Open final four against either Croatian Petra Martic.
The 79th-ranked Martic edged 28th-seeded Liudmila Samsonova 7-6(6), 6-4, one round after she toppled US Open champion Emma Raducanu in a three-set battle.
"I feel a little bit empty right now to be honest," Martic said. "It's been awhile since I played on a high level and went deep into a tournament, so emotionally I feel a little bit drained at the moment.
"I just want to try to recover and prepare as good as I can for the quarterfinals. The second round for me was really big emotionally also to beat someone on that level, like that was my first win, and then I feel like it just started rolling after that, like it gave me confidence like, Okay, I can do it, I'm there again, so let's just, you know, keep doing the same thing."
In this first Tour-level meeting between friends and compatriots in 12 years, Halep burst out of the blocks winning eight of the first nine points on Cirstea’s serve to snatch the double-break lead.
Seventeen minutes into the match, Halep swept a crosscourt forehand flying out to a 4-0 lead.
The former world No. 1’s accuracy on the run really distinguished her in the opening set. Halep played sharper angles and opened the court in running rallies.
A sprinting Halep hit a forehand crosscourt drawing a netted reply from Cirstea to break again and seal the opening set in 32 minutes.
Halep won six of seven points played on Cirstea’s second second and converted all three break points in the first set.
Flipping the script to start the second set, Cirstea thumped a forehand return off a tame second serve breaking at the outset.
The world No. 27 backed up the break for a 2-0 second-set advantage.
Stretching her compatriot out on the run, Halep broke back at 15 to even the set after four games then dodged a break point for 3-2.
Cirstea’s first double fault of the day handed Halep a second match point. The two-time Grand Slam champion drew a backhand error to close.