Australian Open Day 8 women’s wrap: Simona Halep, Garbine Muguruza
Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep survived another “crazy” on-court meltdown to book a quarterfinals berth before making a surprising admission about her rivals.
Tennis
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Simona Halep’s greatest opponent has always been the one that confronts her in the mirror when she wakes each morning.
On Monday all the ingredients that add up to those on-court meltdowns presented after she squandered two second-set service breaks.
As Halep said after winning through to the quarterfinals in an eventual victory over 16th seed Elise Mertens, she can still “get crazy” on court.
From 3-0 up, Halep would squander those multiple breaks and at 4-4 was beginning to glare at coach Darren Cahill with the kind of withering exchanges that cost her $200 a pop for Australian fire relief.
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Ten minutes later she had regained her composure, found a way to break Mertens again after five break points, and closed out the match 6-4 6-4.
If the fourth seed isn’t going to beat herself, who else will on the way to a potential finals berth against world No.1 Ash Barty?
Next up is No.28 seed Anett Kontaveit, with the 2018 French Open and reigning Wimbledon champion still admitting to those fraught moments but clearly better equipped to overcome them.
“I got a little nervous at 4-3 but I was strong enough to finish the match,” said a relieved Halep.
“I had to calm myself down, when I get a little nervous I get crazy on court. I had to stay cool to get the energy from the box. Darren is counting those looks but it’s for a good cause. He says at the end of the tournament he will tell me (how much I owe) so I just keep it relaxed.
“I had it in my head when she came back to pay attention on every ball and mentally I did a great job today at four all with those points. In the end I got the game and served very well in the last game and I feel like my best match since I got here. I like how I feel.”
Halep professes to be oblivious to the seeds falling around her, instead planning some retail therapy and another walk through Melbourne’s streets between matches instead of watching rivals play.
But if Sunday’s CBD wander was interrupted by Australia Day festivities, she must know the draw is as clear as an eight-lane freeway at midnight.
Coach Cahill says in past years Halep might have dropped her bundle, thrilled she now has the capacity to regain her composure mid-match.
Cahill won’t get ahead of himself, but is aware Barty’s methodical advance on the opposite side of the draw could add up to a mouth-watering contest.
“I am Australian. Everything Ash has done in the last two or three years has been inspiring for all of us. It’s not just what she has done between the lines. She is what we Australians are all about. Work hard, give it your best shot, be really humble in success. If I am lucky enough to be coaching against her on Saturday that would be a good problem to have.”
GIANTKILLER ROLLS ON
— Gilbert Gardiner
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova’s giant-killing run at the Australian Open continued, as the Russian qualified for a third quarter-final at Melbourne Park in four years.
The powerful 30th seed, who stopped world No.2 Karolina Pliskova in the third round, lost the first set in a tie-break but responded to defeat Angelique Kerber 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (4-7) 6-X.
It unravelled quickly for the 2016 Australian Open champion Kerber, who was put under immense pressure in the second set – forced to fend off multiple break and set points.
A sluggish start to the third set capped the Kerber meltdown.
Pavlyuchenkova will now take on another former world No.1 in Garbine Muguruza on Wednesday.
“It was extremely tough and I was a couple points away from losing the match actually,” Pavlyuchenkova said.
“In my head I lost a couple of times during the match.”
MUGURUZA IN VINTAGE FORM
— Gilbert Gardiner
Two-time grand slam champion Garbine Muguruza stamped her quarter-final ticket with a straight sets win over ninth-seed Kiki Bertens.
After a seesawing start to the match on Rod Laver Arena, the Spaniard broke to claim the first set and never looked back, winning 6-3 6-3 in 1hr 8mins.
The win equals 2016 French Open and 2017 Wimbledon champion Muguruza’s best slam result on a hardcourt.
Muguruza will play the winner of the Angelique Kerber-Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova fourth-round match.
After forgettable 2018-19 campaigns, Muguruza has regained both form and confidence despite battling some health issues.
She started 2020 on a good note, reaching the Shenzhen semi-final and Hobart quarter-final, beating quality players along the way.
The hiring of former Spanish star Conchita Martinez as coach has settled the 26 year-old, who submitted Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, as part of an off-season bid for mental clarity.
“I think one of the nicest things is when you talk to another ex-player you don’t have to put too many words,” Muguruza said.
“You right away understand each other as a player and as an ex-player, so I think that’s really nice.”
Muguruza was forced to withdraw from the Hobart International with a viral illness.
The Spaniard said she was feeling better each day and remains confident of being able to maintain the level on Wednesday.
Muguruza reached the quarter-finals at the 2017 Australian Open.
The 26 year-old, who ousted Elina Svitolina in the third round, has dropped just two sets at Melbourne Park this time in.
KONTAVEIT BREAKS NEW GROUND FOR ESTONIA
Anett Kontaveit says that reaching her first Grand Slam quarter-final on Monday helps banish the heartbreak of pulling out of the US Open with an illness that torpedoed her 2019 season and required surgery.
The 24-year-old became the first Estonian woman to reach the last eight in Melbourne after battling past Polish teenager Iga Swiatek 6-7 (4/7), 7-5, 7-5 in 2hrs 42mins.
The 28th seed faces a tough test next against fourth seed Simona Halep, one of the favourites for the title.
Kontaveit has had a turbulent few months, forced to pull out of her third-round clash with Belinda Bencic in New York after falling unwell with a viral illness.
She later required surgery and did not play a match for the rest of last year. “It was really hard, so tough to retire at a Grand Slam. It was a really tough couple of months after that,” she said, after holding off a late charge from the 18-year-old Swiatek.
“But I’m so happy I’m through that now. I started training in mid-November, and it’s been only uphill (getting better) from there,” Kontaveit added with a smile.
The Estonian’s return to full form and fitness was in evidence when she thrashed the Swiss sixth seed Bencic 6-0, 6-1 in the third round in Melbourne.
Her British coach Nigel Sears says her forced exit at the US Open checked some stunning momentum at Flushing Meadows, where she was the 21st seed.
“(She) got an internal infection that got out of control very quickly,” he said at the Australian Open.
“I suddenly had a phone call early in the morning that she was on her way to hospital, she ended up being hospitalised for a week in New York and then had surgery for a procedure to remove an abscess.
“She couldn’t do anything for three or four months, lost quite a lot of weight. It was hugely disappointing.”
All that was forgotten on Monday when Kontaveit recovered from a set down to unseeded Swiatek, holding off the teenager’s recovery from 5-1 down in the decider for a victory that she said left her shaking.
Poland’s Swiatek, the youngest player left in the draw after Coco Gauff’s exit, grabbed the first set on a tie-break but Kontaveit finally prevailed 6-7 (4/7), 7-5, 7-5 in 2hrs 42 minutes.
Swiatek, who shocked Croat 19th seed Donna Vekic in the third round, needed a medical timeout and heavy strapping to her left thigh before the start of the second set.
Neither player could consistently hold serve and they exchanged breaks throughout the second set, but the more experienced Kontaveit finally held in game 11 and broke once more to level the match.
Kontaveit motored into a 5-1 lead in the deciding set before Swiatek threatened a late comeback, winning four games in a row for 5-5 before the Estonian held serve and then broke for the match.
However, it now gets tougher for Kontaveit and two-time Grand Slam champion Halep will be the strong favourite in their last-eight encounter.
“She’s incredibly consistent,” said the Estonian.
“She’s playing so well, moving so well, and I have definitely got to be consistent but try and play my game and be aggressive.”
—AFP