Simona Halep stunned by Elise Mertens in the Round of 16 at Madrid
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Simona Halep
Playing on her favorite surface, many expected Simona Halep to cruise into the quarter-finals in Madrid, but she was stopped and stunned by Elise Mertens. The Belgian defeated the World No.3 in a three set epic 4-6,7-5,7-5.
Halep was the champion at the Madrid Open in 2016 and 2017, but is yet to reach a WTA Tour final this season. This was also her earliest exit in the Spanish capital since a 2015 first-round loss.
The third seed was quick off the blocks and broke Mertens’ serve to win the first set 6-4. Their were 25 break point opportunity in the match, 15 for Mertens and 10 for Halep. The Belgian converted 8 of those while Halep converted 7.
In the second set, the battle went down to the line with each player capitalizing on the break back points. Mertens eventually broke Halep’s serve at 5-5 to win the second set 7-5.
It was neck-to-neck in the decider. Halep tasted first blood when she broke Mertens early to take a 2-1 lead. But the Belgian showed grit to come back after multiple break exchanges. She again broke the world no.3’s serve at 5-5 to close out the match.
‘I did some important mistakes’: Simona Halep
This was also Mertens’ sixth career victory over a Top 5 opponent. After her loss, Halep said that she played a good game but made mistakes at important moments.
She said: “I cannot say I played bad, but I did some mistakes, important mistakes. You know, sometimes it’s just a little bit and the match is going away.”
In the quarter-finals, 13th seed Mertens will meet her doubles partner, Belarusian seventh seed Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday. Sabalenka was dominant in the Round of 16 against Jessica Pegula. She knocked the American out in straight sets 6-1,6-2.
Also read: WATCH: Roger Federer spotted in the Swiss Alps
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Lakshya Chopra
(2595 Articles Published)