Germany’s Kerber, the Australian Open champion, responded with an impressive second set. “We ve played a lot of good matches in the past”.
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The match was effectively decided in the first set tiebreak after both players had produced nervy, erratic tennis over the first 12 games. She won $497,700 while Keys took home $241,840. I just completely lost my rhythm, and he was taking over control of my second serve, attacking it. I think I did it pretty well, and she’d missed. That helped me a lot in singles; I had tough opponents there.
“Actually, when I started the tournament, I said with the prize money from doubles I will go shopping”, Halep said. I can say I have strong legs and I can be solid on the backhand. “I was doing everything, I was fighting today”.
Konta was left to rue her wastefulness, only converting one of five break-point opportunities in her straight-sets loss to Kucova. At 30-30, Keys was at the net for an easy volley, but sent the ball wide. “Her ability to get that extra ball and become the one that’s in charge of the point is what she’s so good at”. “She was hitting very strong”.
“She was playing more consistently than me the whole match”, said Kerber. “It showed me that I was ready, aggressive, moving really well”. “It’s very tough to defend her balls”. “Although I’m already a bit exhausted but they help me through”.
There were more empty seats than usual for a semifinal on centre court, but a large contingent of flag-waving Romanian fans turned out to back Halep. “I think I’m ready for it”. “I think I was just going for some shots too early today”.
Sunday’s win gave the 24-year-old her third title of the year.
Halep topped Kerber after losing to her in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
“My elbow is feeling much better”, Kerber said. “Sometimes it happens (but you) take the positives from that and move on”.
The 21-year-old Keys won the Wimbledon tuneup event in Birmingham, England, this year for her second WTA Tour title, then reached the fourth round at Wimbledon.
Nevertheless, we’re backing the Romanian to come through and similarly to the Kerber clash, her rival will have her moments and this could very well be a battle that goes the distance with Halep eventually prevailing.
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The Indo-Swiss pair were far from their best as they were beaten 4-6, 3-6 by the unseeded American duo in a match that lasted 70 minutes. The winners shared $142,375 while losers split $71,920.
