She called the Bucharest event “a small tournament” that nonetheless showed she was playing strong tennis.
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“Yeah, it was very long journey”, she said.
Kerber was a shadow of herself in an opening set which lasted just 26 minutes, with her normally steady game marred by numerous errors. “I think it’ll depend on the day”.
“I’m exhausted”, she said with a smile.
In a quarter-finals later Friday, Madison Keys beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-6 (3), 1-6, 6-0 and Johanna Konta faced Kristina Kucova, the Slovak qualifier who ousted Genie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., in the third round on Thursday.
“All I can say is that I m very happy I could win against her, because we always have tough matches”.
“I don’t know why I served so well”.
Halep appears to be back after some recent struggles early in the season and could find her way in the No. 2 spot again if she stays on this path. Halep has won 10 of her last 12 matches on hard court. But, as I said, was impossible. “I had a lot of treatments when I came here”. She was playing more consistent than me the whole match.
A roar went up and flags waved when Halep finished off the error-prone Keys 7-6 (2), 6-3 to claim the title in Canada on her second try, one year after heat stroke forced her to retire from the final in Toronto. “Not like me, with a lot of ups and downs”.
“She’s really unsafe”, Kerber said. “With all the Romanians, I felt like at home”. It was an unbelievable atmosphere down there.
“Every match we played against each other was really close”, Kerber said. “I think I’m ready for it”.
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Her best previous hardcourt performance was a semi-final run at the 2015 Australian Open.
“Actually, when I started the tournament, I said with the prize money from doubles I will go shopping”, she said with a laugh. “Sometimes it happens. Just take the positives from that and move on”. Monfils displayed his renowned athleticism in a high-quality quarter-final, relying on his lightning-fast court coverage to manufacture a 6-4 6-4 victory over the losing Wimbledon finalist.
Radwanska won the Rogers Cup the last time it was held in Montreal in 2014. In the evening, Kucova faces Keys in the other semi-final. It’s going to be a big challenge for me.
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“That’s not the most important shot – I was already quite down in the second set. I feel exhausted. I gave it everything I had to win this title”. It’s a nice thing for Romanians.
