Qatar Total Open: Halep overcomes late deficit to stun Svitolina
A match that had ups and downs for both players proved to be an exciting one at the Qatar Total Open Friday night. Simona Halep saw herself dead to rights at 1-4 in the third but pulled off a stunning five-game winning streak to beat Elina Svitolina 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 on center court at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex. It allowed the 2014 champion to advance to her 34th WTA final and ended a two-year losing streak to the fast Ukrainian.
This was the eighth career meeting between the two stars and the second semifinal matchup between Halep and Svitolina. The Ukrainian looked for her fifth win to advance to her first final in Doha and her fourth straight over the former world number one.
She had an advantage over Halep, taking down a lower ranked opponent on Thursday while Julia Goerges went three sets before losing out on the chance to face the fourth seed. A second straight final appearance was on the line for Halep who wanted to end her losing ways to Svitolina. In what was already a heated rivalry, the 27-year-old’s tennis game has been at a great clip to challenge the Ukrainian on every point.
With that in mind, Svitolina fired off three straight points before Halep managed to get one. It was all she would earn in the opening game as the fourth seed wanted to sustain her serve. Halep didn’t have the same result in the second but held to be on the right side of the score early knowing the challenges she faced. The Romanian gave it right back in the third hunting down a break chance answering Svitolina’s crosscourt shots before dealing out her own that got the job done.
A consolidation of her service hold gave the top seed a 3-1 lead over Svitolina who was recording a number of unforced errors and struggling on the first serve. She saved her game in the fifth with Halep erring just enough to keep within one of the world number three and recover the slipups.
They returned during an opportunity to level the score on a break chance. Despite fighting to deuce, the return game suffered just enough giving Halep some breathing room.
She continued to stay ahead of Svitolina after it, when she had to fight hard to clinch the set. Halep created plenty of chances while pressuring the Ukrainian who faltered just enough to end the third break and give the number one seed a leg up after 39 minutes.
Both had a low first serve percentage and nearly a dozen unforced errors each. The difference maker was what came out of Svitolina’s first serve which allowed Halep to charge forward due to two double faults.
Coach Andrew Bettles came down during the break to tell Svitolina of her need to come in and eye when Halep delivered the low shots. A need to open up the court with the first serve was also a major plea from Bettles who felt that it could be a determining factor of getting Svitolina back into the match.
It didn’t from the start as the Romanian picked up where she left off smashing the first game out. The 24-year-old answered in kind with some baseline shots that earned her a serve to love hoping to make her stance know early in the second.
Svitolina converted the hold with a break in the third implementing the tactics told by her coach that gave her the lead with the hope of dictating the remainder of the set. She got herself three straight wins over Halep but it was brought to a halt with a much-needed hold from the top seed.
The fifth game was critical as the Romanian held Svitolina to a pair of points bringing her within reach of a tie. The fourth seed responded with a push to keep the Romanian back trying hard to defend her end answering every return her opponent hit back. After pressuring Halep to falter during the second break, the 24-year-old ended the sixth with a simple lob to stand ahead 4-2.
Halep refused to let the lead get any bigger for the Ukrainian and brought herself back to a game. She pushed Svitolina in the eighth but despite getting to deuce the smallest error saved the game for the 24-year-old who got her chance to play for the set.
Her actions of making it to the ball for the return were stunning that included the terrific crosscourt winners that helped her push the match to a huge decider after 40 minutes. An improvement of the first serve for Svitolina was her key to holding the world number three and turning her game around to be in a comfortable position.
She served to begin the third with a crosscourt attack that worked for a time. Despite playing to deuce, Svitolina clinched the game to hold and begin her push to pressure Halep. She kept the 27-year-old back to convert the break making it a very important moment to running the set one-sided. Halep could not find a way to definitively beat Svitolina at returning the ball which had her down 3-0.
The world number three somehow etched out a win for herself on serve in the fourth bringing Svitolina’s rush to a short pause. When Svitolina returned to serve, she delivered another huge blow to the 27-year-old to regain her three-game margin and inch closer to her first final in the tournament.
Halep knew the trouble she faced and tried everything in her power to counteract the play on court. On serve in the sixth, she lost the opportunity to hold and was forced to deuce where a double fault came at the wrong time.
Svitolina let the AD point slip away and never got another one as Halep was intent on making it her game to win. After seven breaks and ten minutes elapsed, the number one seed took it hoping to make this her moment to change the tide of control. Errors from Svitolina in the seventh came at the wrong time, sending her to call fall Bettles who told her that her game was good but needed to keep trusting her intensity and to believe in everything she does.
Despite everything he said, the leverage was well in the hands of the 27-year-old who had her first serve to even the score at four all. The Ukrainian was very much in trouble finding herself down 0-30 on serve. A much-needed point coming off a high lobbed return turned the tables with a long ball from Halep.
When it looked like Svitolina had it locked up, the Romanian scored an amazing winner that nailed the line to reach break point. An error brought the fourth seed to deuce but the long ball once again handed things over to the former world number one.
A challenged call that saw the ball catch the baseline on the third, gave Halep the ultimate push to pressure Svitolina and win her fourth game in a row putting her in a spot to win the match. Halep showed her complete dominance in the tenth smashing point after point to gain three match points.
The Ukrainian saved one on a sudden lob rally but couldn’t save another as the return landed wide of the court ending a thrilling ending a huge sigh of relief for the 27-year-old after two hours and seven minutes.
“I didn’t give up,” said Halep during her on-court interview with Andy Taylor. “I promised myself that I would never give up against her again because I lost two matches very bad. I said that I had to be strong against her because she’s a very strong opponent and a very good fighter. It was the best match so far and unbelievable that I could win this and really happy that I was strong in my legs, I was not tired and I won.”
She’ll not only vie for her chance at another title in Doha but would also try to win her 200th career hardcourt match against the winner between Angelique Kerber and Elise Mertens on Saturday.
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