Simona Halep, the only Romanian left in the draw, went up against Danka Kovinić for the last berth in the semifinals. In the breezy conditions, Halep was a face of concentration from start to finish. The powerful Kovinić showed what she could do but it barely rattled the Romanian. The top seed put up a solid performance, without having to face a single break point, to defeat the sixth seed 6-4, 6-2. The 2014 champion will next face Vania King in the semifinals.
Halep finds the breakthrough against powerful Kovinić
Both women held their opening service games in their first ever meeting. Halep had a host of chances in the third game, the first of those set up by a brilliant crosscourt passing shot. Kovinić was equal to the challenge though surviving the game with some thunderous shot-making.
The Montenegrin continued hammering powerful shots and the Romanian was not able to do much when those came her way. Nevertheless, Halep remained patient sticking to her game plan and she eventually made the breakthrough in the seventh game to go up 4-3. The top seed looked to have settled into the conditions as she consolidated the break with ease. With Kovinić holding her serve for 4-5, the set was on Halep’s racket and the Romanian was barely troubled as she cruised through to clinch the first set in 36 minutes.
Woman on a mission, clinical Halep too good
Kovinić was going for her shots and at times was making errors. And just like in the first set, Halep had opportunities to break the Montenegrin serve. Kovinić fended off one but missed the easiest shot at the net allowing the Romanian to draw first blood and take a 2-1 lead.
The top seed remained steady, boasting fantastic serving numbers having yet to lose a point on her first serve as she consolidated the break for 3-1. Despite trailing, the Montenegrin played out one of her most straightforward service games to keep herself in the match at 2-3. The sixth seed fought hard pushing Halep to deuce in the following game. However, she just could not find an opening as the Romanian extended her lead to 4-2.
It was looking like Halep had an answer to everything except for drop shots but the Romanian eventually got to one of those to put it away for a double break point in the seventh game. Kovinić’s pace and power momentarily helped her snuff out the chances but she was soon under pressure after her shot just missed the line. And this time, Halep was able to convert for the double break and a 5-2 lead. Serving for the match, Halep went 0-30 down but it wasn’t going to be the Montenegrin’s day as the top seed eventually closed out the victory on her fourth match point.