Halep overcomes nerves, advances
Most players are reluctant to admit they get shaky on court but not Simona Halep who embraces the nervous energy and is ready to feel all the emotion as she progresses at the French Open.
The world number one has played three Grand Slam finals and lost them all, including two at Roland Garros, and rare are the times when she does not open up about her early match jitters.
On Monday, she blazed into the quarter-finals by crushing Belgian Elise Mertens 6-2, 6-1 as she showed her full range of weapons.
The 26-year-old Romanian started slowly but once she found her groove, there was nothing the 16th seed could do to avoid a one-sided defeat.
“I don’t know how the other players are before the matches, but I think I am very nervous before every match, and this is because I am like this,” said Halep, who will next meet German Angelique Kerber. Kerber beat Caroline Garcia 6-2, 6-3 on Monday.
“So I’m not going to fight with myself about that. But I try to improve this thing, and I try to enjoy my nerves, because they are special when you play in a Grand Slam.”
Despite the nerves, Halep was way too good for her 22-year-old opponent.
Mertens entered the tournament having won two secondtier events on clay including 16 wins and one defeat, albeit against Halep last month in Madrid when she was comprehensively beaten. The story was the same on Monday as Halep, a French Open finalist in 2014 and 2017, broke for 2-1 in the opening set and never looked back as she outmanoeuvred Mertens, who was sent chasing the ball all over the court.
DARIA SHOCKED AFTER BESTING WOZNIACKI
Daria Kasatkina admitted that reaching her first Slam quarterfinal was such a shock that she almost left herself homeless in Paris. The 21-year-old Russian stunned world number two and Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki 7-6 (7/5), 6-3.
However, despite being assured of $380,000 euros by reaching the last-eight, the world No. 14 had only booked accommodation until Tuesday. “My house which I rent expired today, and I have to change to the hotel,” she revealed after reeling off three straight games in just 17 minutes to finish her tie against Wozniacki which was suspended at 3-3 in the second set overnight because of darkness.
“I was renting it until June 5 and today we decided to move so not to do it on a match day. We are moving to the hotel. It is what it is.”
She added: “I booked it through Airbnb. So you have to pay in advance. And you never know what is going to happen and if you are in the middle of the second week it’s fine to go to the hotel -- I’m not complaining.”
Before Monday, Kasatkina had never before got beyond the fourth round at a Slam.
Her win on Monday gave her a sixth victory over a top-two woman -- of active players, only the Williams sisters and Maria Sharapova have had more success in that category.