By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, October 28, 2019
Simona Halep saved match point at 5-6 of the second set sparking a gritty 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3 comeback win over Bianca Andreescu at the WTA Finals Shenzhen.
Photo credit: WTA Finals Shenzhen
The WTA Finals have been a dead-end road for Simona Halep in recent years.
Today, Halep showed plenty of life after near-competitive death.
More: Svitolina Stops Pliskova In WTA Finals
A spirited Halep saved match point at 5-6 of the second set sparking a gritty 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3 triumph over US Open champion Bianca Andreescu in a pulsating WTA Finals Shenzhen battle between Grand Slam champions.
This physical Purple Group opener provided major thrills and left both champions a little black and blue. Both players took medical treatments before the final set of an exhilarating battle.
Fighting with fierce determination, Halep showed stamina and resolve breaking three times in a row to complete her comeback.
"I'm really actually proud of my team and also myself that we could make it again," Halep told Andrew Krasny afterward. "It was a very tough match. I knew that she's a great player. And she's playing to the end without giving up.
"So I had to fight. I didn't play so much since Wimbledon actually. I'm a little bit dead, but I have time tomorrow to recover. And I'm happy that I could win finally a match in the WTA finals."
The 2014 WTA Finals runner-up to Serena Williams, Halep had managed just three wins in her last three appearances at the season-ending finale and had never won her opening match of round-robin play.
The Wimbledon champion competed with hunger, moved with vigor and outlasted the 19-year-old Canadian.
It was Halep's second Top 5 win of the season and first since she defeated No. 5 Karolina Pliskova at Fed Cup in February.
"Every match I have pressure," Halep said. "And I love playing under pressure, but I have to turn it in a positive way. So today I did it.
"I'm happy I could fight actually with a girl who is 10 years younger than me and she just won US Open she did unbelievable job this year. So I'm really proud of my job tonight and I have just to enjoy. It feels great."
Mixing angle and spin shrewdly, Andreescu broke for 4-3.
Coach Darren Cahill came out and encouraged Halep to drive her backhand down the line and try to target the US Open champion's forehand to "keep her honest."
On the opposite side of the net, a focused Andreescu was firing with ambition. The Canadian cranked an ace out wide consolidating for 5-3.
Staring down a set point in the ninth game, Halep played one of her most proactive points of the set staving off a dizzying assortment of high spins, low slices and drives before moving in for a drive volley winner.
Thoughtful and athletic tennis are Andreescu assets. Andreescu hits her forehand with heavier topspin and generally varies the spin of her strokes more than than Halep. Slashing a forehand down the line for a second set point Andreescu beat Halep in a forehand-to-forehand exchange coaxing a netted forehand for a one-set lead.
The 19-year-old Andreescu tripled Halep's winner output—15 to 5—and crunched the Romanian's second serve breaking three times in the 38-minute set.
Footwork is the foundation for the former world No. 1's baseline style. Halep was getting to the ball on balance and hitting through her shots with conviction as the second set progressed.
Halep's skill cornering the Canadian in her backhand side paid dividends as Andreescu wildly missed a backhand down the line to give back the break and a 3-2 lead. When Andreescu took a medical timeout to patch a three-inch cut on her left shin, coach Cahill urged Halep to stay positive and keep swinging aggressively.
"You can't serve a second serve at 117 [km/h]," Cahill said pointing at the serve-speed clock. "You've got to go after it more... Keep moving her. You're right in this... A good five, six, seven minutes and we can be sitting at one set all."
Ninety-one minutes into the match, Halep tried squeezing a backhand down the line and narrowly missed the mark to face match point at 5-6.
The fifth seed relied on her speed to extend a 12-shot rally before banging out a backhand error to save match point. Halep gashed another razor-sharp backhand down the line to force the tie break.
When Andreescu steered a backhand wide to face a third set point in the breaker she bounced her Head racquet off the lavender court dislodging the dampner. Andreescu feasted on the Romanian's second serve for much of the first set and a half.
This time, Halep hit a second serve closer to the hip coaxing an errant return to take the second set with a smile.
Smooth skill transitioning from defense to offense separates Andreescu from many of the elite.
Extending points with her one-handed slice, Andreescu pulled the string on a drop shot drawing Halep in then hit a pass down the line the Romanian could not control to break for 2-1.
A frustrated Halep punched herself in the thigh as if trying to beat transgressions out of her body, while Cahill exhorted her to exploit the Canadian's stretched slices by moving in and hitting her drive volley.
"You have a swing volley—use it," Cahill said. "Come forward."
Halep did exactly that stepping inside the court to take a forehand drive on the rise and break back to level after four games.
A full-stretch forehand return left Halep vulnerable, but she guessed right and slashed a backhand winner down the line for double break point. Andreescu, who was looking wearier with each passing game, slapped a smash into the middle of the net. Halep scored her second straight break for 4-2.
Dancing inside the service line, Halep hammered a forehand winner serving out a fierce two hour, 33-minute battle at love. Halep joins defending champion Svitolina, who defeated Pliskova 7-6(12), 6-4 as undefeated in Purple Group play.