Romania’s Simona Halep won a very disputed match against Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2 7-5 to make the quarterfinals of the US Open.
The world No.5 Halep made a very good start, taking the first two games easily. The third game was closer, but Halep eventually managed to break Suarez Navarro’s serve after an 11-minute game. In the next game, Halep was very aggressive, effortlessly advancing her lead to 4-0. However, the 12th-ranked Suarez Navarro fought back, playing some great tennis to take the game. The following game was a battle, as both ladies played very good tennis, but in the end, Suarez Navarro had the upper hand, diminishing Halep’s lead to 4-2. Halep difficultly won the next game to serve for the set. The Romanian seemed much more in control in the eighth game to take the first set 6-2 in 46 minutes.
In the beginning of the second set, Suarez Navarro seemed very determined to come back into the match. The Spaniard won the opening game, but Halep fought back, taking the next two games quite easily to lead 2-1. Suarez Navarro came back to 2-2, following a very tight game. After that, Suarez Navarro became more confident and played her game to take the lead 3-2. Halep fought back, coming back to 3-3, taking the lead 4-3. During the break, Suarez Navarro complained to the umpire, and as a result, she seemed tense losing the game. When serving to stay in the match, Suarez Navarro showed some impressive mental strength to take the game with Halep to serve for the match. It was a very disputed game, but Suarez Navarro eventually prevailed to come back to 5-5. Halep won the next game to lead 6-5. The Romanian seemed very determined to stay focused and win this match. She played some great tennis to win this last game and book her spot in the quarterfinals.
During her on-court interview, Halep said that it had been a very though match and that she was really happy to have won. The fifth-seeded Romanian was pleased to be back in the quarterfinals, where she will either play Serena Williams or Yaroslava Shvedova.
