Players Simona Halep of Romania (2nd L), Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, Garbine Muguruza of Spain, Angelique Kerber of Germany, Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, Madison Keys of the U.S., Dominika Cibulkova (2nd R) of Slovakia.
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Halep yanked the tape off after the opening game. Kerber knows she has to be more effective on her service game and can’t fall asleep like she did in the second set which she lost 2-6. “I know how to play the big tournaments also mentally, how to win really tough matches in tough situations, like playing finals in big tournaments, big stages”.
“We wish her well for the remainder of the season and look forward to seeing her play in Dubai in the near future, where she has many ardent fans”.
After losing the opening set of her campaign at Roland Garros, Muguruza won her next 14 in succession to wrap up the title, including a straight-sets victory over Williams in the final.
Kerber (2-0), who beat Cibulkova in her first match on Sunday, was at her resilient best against Halep (1-1), standing firm when her opponent threatened and putting her foot on the accelerator when she sniffed an opportunity to pull away.
“I have confidence against her”, said Halep, after extending her career head-to-head record to 5-1. “But maybe I didn’t finish the important points”. “I was focused. Everything went as I wanted, so I’m happy”. It’s a great accomplishment for her to be here, but will she have anything left in the tank?
A match of counter-punchers began with Kerber winning the toss and electing to receive. The fourth member of her group is Kuznetsova, whom she trails 4-12. Cibulkova may have been a little too excited against Kerber in her opening match.
Struggling to control the ball, Halep sailed successive shots gifting the break and a 5-4 lead. As permitted under the WTA’s on-court coaching rules, the frustrated Romanian summoned Cahill for some calming assistance.
A somber Halep returned to court and regressed with an error-filled game.
Kerber was not affected by the wobble, though, as she snatched her opponent’s serve to earn a one-set lead in 44 minutes. “Angelique has had a good year and won two major titles-the 2016 Australian Open and the 2016 US Open”, said Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice President & CEO, Dubai Duty Free. In the sixth game Kerber makes some unforced errors and gets broken.
“To be honest, I didn’t feel really good in the practice week what I had here”, Pliskova said afterward. “I think I kind of had to take a step back and not rush”. It was a strategy that worked quite well for Halep on Sunday as she cruised past Madison Keys for her fifth career WTA Finals win.
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But these would be just the briefest of flurries with Kerber once more just playing the big points better when it counted, to wrap up the first set.
