Garbine Muguruza and Simona Halep meet in the semifinals of the 2018 tennis French Open.
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As big a talent as Stephens is and in spite of the superb form she’s demonstrated over the past nine months, there’s a sense her upcoming opponent, Halep, is simply the superior candidate heading into Saturday’s showdown.
“I have actually been told quite often that I’ll never win or do well because I’m too nice of a person and I just don’t have it”. “I have recognised more things I have needed to do”. “My head won it”. Never at any stage during the match did the Russian appear to have a counter against Muguruza.
“It’s Simona’s third final in Roland Garros, she has a great level”.
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The fifth-seeded Del Potro, whose career has been hampered by injuries, beat third-seeded Marin Cilic 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 Thursday.
American duo Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys will square off in the Roland Garros semi-finals on Thursday, in a rematch of last September’s US Open final.
After New York, she lost her next eight matches, a run encompassing the Asian swing of late 2017 and the early exchanges of 2018, including a demoralising first round exit at the Australian Open.
Indeed, there is something of a deja-vu feel from last year’s final, where she was a heavy favourite over Jelena Ostapenko, and Halep needs to defeat Stephens to bury the ghosts from what must have been an incredibly deflating defeat – not to mention her best chance to win a Slam title. But I will be, I think, more confident, because I have a lot of experience.
Stephens hasn’t dropped a set since.
“I think I played one of my best matches on clay”, Halep said in a courtside interview.
Sharapova certainly didn’t do that.
But ultimately she paid the price of 41 unforced errors as Stephens served out the match at the second time of asking, sealing victory with a backhand down the line. She is the better overall player than Stephens, and clay just widens the margin. “I think it would be odd for me not to include someone that I have competed against for so many years”, said the 31-year-old.
Sharapova might prefer to be described as a veteran rather than an antique, but the analytics that matter to her have nothing to do with birthday candles at this point.
“It’s really tough to get any ball by her, but especially today, she was neutralizing so well”. Watching her ranking rise is “somewhat of a reward for the efforts, whether they are small or large”, she said.
The win for Halep also means she will not lose hold of her world number one ranking, no matter what happens in the next game.
It was 5-0 by the time Muguruza eventually claimed a game. Sharapova was the French Open champion in 2012 and 2014; Muguruza took the trophy in 2016.
Halep, ranked No. 1, has struggled in majors title matches.
Kerber is a two-time Grand Slam champion.
Like Sharapova, Halep trailed 4-0 at the outset.
In all, Keys made 41 unforced errors, 30 more than Stephens.
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But Halep figured things out.
