Simmonds upbeat despite final defeat
WITH the initial disappointment now a thing of the past, Chanel Simmonds can look forward to the next few months knowing she is well on track to end 2013 as intended.
The 20-year-old put up a spirited display against No 1 seed Timea Babos in the final of the Soweto Open on Saturday, but ultimately fell short of pulling off a stunning upset losing 7-6, (7/3), 4-6, 1-6.
Plucky as ever, the fifth seed took Babos all the way in the opener despite being 2-5 down with the Hungarian serving for the match. She managed to sneak ahead early in the second grabbing a 3-1 lead but was unable to stem the tide as the powerful Babos found her feet.
“I was down in the first set but I did well to win it and then I was up in the second but I started struggling as she found her rhythm and she just kind of blew me away,” said South Africa’s No 2, who hadn’t lost a set heading into the final.
After clinching the doubles title with Magda Linette from Poland on Friday – beating the British pair of Samantha Murray and Jade Windley in straight sets – Simmonds was able to reflect with pride.
“My quarterfinal match was against the No 2 seed ( Julia Glushko). I played really well win- ning 7-5, 6-0 so that was a huge confidence boost knocking her out and then semis I beat Nadiya Kichenok, the fourth seed, which was also huge,” she said.
“And then the final, the girl was just better than me.”
Speaking after her semifinal victory on Friday, Simmonds outlined her plans for the rest of the year.
“My goal is to get into the main draw of the Grand Slams, so at the moment my ranking is sitting at about 180 and I have to be at more or less 110 to get in so hopefully by the end of the year, I’ll be there,” said Simmonds.
With her runner-up finish, she has already climbed 30 places in the rankings and will head to Roland Garros upbeat as she bids to get through qualifying after coming close at the Australian Open in January.
“The Australian Open proved to me that I have the game to go through qualifying and possibly win a few rounds in the Slams with the French and Wimbledon up next.”
Simmonds knows it won’t be easy but knows what is required to be able to compete at the highest level. “I definitely need to get stronger because if I want to play against these girls, I need to hit the ball harder so I’m going to work on gaining some weight, some muscle mass.”
Victory aside, it was also a rather f r uitful campaig n for the 20-year-old Babos, who was ranked 114th heading into the $50 000 tournament.
“I came here to get into the main draw of Wimbledon and being in the semifinals, I had already done that so I didn’t just want to stop there, so with this result I’ll be back in the top-100,” said Babos, after bagging her 10th ITF singles title.