Serena Williams avenged her bagel by Simona Halep by destroying her in the finals of 2014 WTA Finals

Throwback to when Serena Williams revenged a young Simona Halep after her shock loss in the group stage of the 2014 WTA Finals.

Serena Williams avenged her bagel by Simona Halep by destroying her in the finals of 2014 WTA Finals

Simona Halep and Serena Williams. (credits: The New York Times, Digi24)

With the WTA World Tour Finals just a few months away, we look back on one of the most historic moments of the WTA Finals. Way back in the 2014 edition, Serena Wiliams finished her season off with a Grand Slam title at the US Open in her bag and on the other hand, it was the start of the journey for a young Simona Halep who was playing her first WTA Finals tournament.

Simona Halep had a consistent season having made it to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, the semis of the Wimbledon Open, and made it to the finals of the French Open sadly losing to Maria Sharapova. The WTA Finals included a star-studded lineup of players like Williams, Sharapova, Agnieszka Radwanska, Eugenie Bouchard, and another young upcoming star, Caroline Wozniacki.

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At the group stage when Halep faced Wiliams, to everyone’s utter shock, Halep stunned the American beating her in straight sets victory of 6-0, 6-2 which marked a historic moment. It was the first time that a Romanian was able to beat a World No. 1. Simon Halep and Williams again faced each other in the final but this time Williams showed her class and thrashed the then World No. 3 with a scoreline of 6–3, 6–0 revenging her group stage defeat.

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What did Serena Williams and Simona Halep say after their match at the final

Having encountered one of the worst defeats in a long time, Serena Williams went to the final against Simona Halep with a clear hand. In an interview after her final win, Serena talked about the brilliance and form of Simona. She said, “Knowing that she has the ability and the capability to play so well, I knew that I had to step up my game.”

Serena Williams and Simona Halep share a moment with each other after their match. (Credits: WTA)

Serena even trained herself mentally ahead of the final saying,“I knew that I had to play a lot better, so I obviously was expecting a much better player than I was in the earlier rounds. She was playing so well like she did the last time we played, and I literally was on this side of the court, and I just laughed. I was like, ‘Serena, you have nothing to lose — just relax!’ And then once I relaxed, I just started playing better and making my shots.”

Simona Halep also had her views after losing the WTA Finals even after having the better of Serena in the group stage. She said, “Yeah, she played better, she was stronger than me today. She was stronger than me, I knew that would be a different match because every day is different, and every day it’s a new day so I tried to stay there focused and to try everything I could but in the end, I was very tired and I couldn’t manage the match very well.”

When asked by the moderator how she is feeling now, Simona talked about how great a year she had and that she just wants to brush off the loss as soon as possible and focus on the future. She said, “I am a little bit sad it’s normal always after losing you as said so I can say that I am happy too because I did a great result this year, I did a great final so I have no reason to be sad and just to looking forward to the next tournaments and to the next year.”

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