Simona Halep defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-6(3), 6-2 in an hour and 41 minutes to advance to the semifinal of the Western & Southern Open for the first time of her career.
Halep Edges Pavlyuchenkova to Take Opening Set
In the first game of the match, it was the Russian who looked the fresher of the two, breaking Halep on her third break point opportunity. Holding to 15, Pavlyuchenkova was able to consolidate the early break. Noticeably, the Russian number four wanted to test the mobility of the Romanian early on as Halep talked about how fatigued she felt after every match she played. From there, both women managed to hold their service games until the eighth game of the match. It was clear from the beginning of the match that Pavlyuchenkova was going to dictate most of the points, and Halep was going to have to get everything back in order to win. She did just that to level the match at four-all. From that point on, both players were basically having a tug of war in every game. The server managed to come out on top in all of the games, which meant there needed to be a tiebreaker to determine the winner of the first set. At the beginning of the seven-point shoot out, Halep raced out to a 3-0 lead with two mini-breaks. Pavlyuchenkova managed to recover one of the two mini-breaks with some great serving, but in the end it was the Romanian who was too solid. As a result, Halep won the opening set 7-6(3).
Too Little, Too Late From Pavlyuchenkova. Halep Wins in Straight Sets
To begin the second set, Pavlyuchenkova was a little sluggish and gave Halep the early advantage. Much to the delight of her enthusiastic Romanian supporters, the world number three broke to love. After consolidating the break, Halep looked to be having all of the answers to Pavlyuchenkova’s powerful ground strokes. As a result, the Romanian broke for the second time in the second set to open up a sizeable 3-0 lead. Could Pavlyuchenkova mount a comeback from this deficit?
From what the Russian was able to produce in the next game, it looked like it would be possible. Breaking to love, Pavlyuchenkova was starting to find her groove again. However, Halep had other ideas. Quickly raising out to a 15-40 lead on her Russian counterpart’s serve, the Romanian made no mistake, breaking at the first time of asking. Now back up 4-1, Halep was two games away from a spot in the semifinals. Despite being down a set and a double break once again, Pavlyuchenkova continued to press. In the end she was rewarded with another break of serve. Now trailing 2-4, the Russian desperately needed a hold of serve. Of course, it’s easier said than done, especially against a world-class tennis player in Simona Halep. The Romanian was not going to be satisfied with only one break of serve so she broke once more to go up 5-2. She would now serve for the match to book a place in the semifinals of the Western & Southern Open for the first time in her career. Could she end the run of breaks here?
It took four match points but Halep was able to end the run of breaks to win the match 7-6(3), 6-2 against an always dangerous opponent in Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. She will play Jelena Jankovic for a place in the showpiece on Saturday night. If she wins, she will also re-claim the world number two ranking from an injured Maria Sharapova, just in time for the U.S. Open. This means she will not face number one seed Serena Williams until the final of the final Grand Slam of the year.