Halep tunes up in Grand Slam quest with Shenzhen title
SVITOLINA FIRES WARNING TO RIVALS WITH BRISBANE TRIUMPH
orld number one Simona Halep continued her preparations for the Australian Open by lifting the Shenzhen Open title after a 6-1 2-6 6-0 victory over holder Katerina Siniakova yesterday.
In a rain-delayed match that was moved to the indoor courts, Romanian Halep got off to a flying start and did not face a single break point as she easily won the first set.
Czech Siniakova, 21, fought back to take the second set as Halep appeared to lose focus but the top seed regained her composure to break the Czech’s serve three times in the third set and seal a comfortable win.
“We had a great match today. I tried everything to win ... I just try to enjoy the moment even if it’s a little bit different indoors. It’s not easy but we did our job and I’m happy that I could win the first title of the year,” Halep said.
The success will be a boost for Halep, whose last triumph was at the Madrid Open last May, with the 26-year-old among the favourites to win her maiden grand slam title at this month’s Australian Open.
“I’m just taking it tournament by tournament and of course I will give my best in every match I will play and my dream is to win a grand slam.”
With holder Serena Williams having withdrawn from the first grand slam of the year, Halep and Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, who won the Brisbane International title yesterday, have made strong statements ahead of the event.
Ukrainian Elina Svitolina got the perfect boost for the Australian Open with a 6-2 6-1 win over qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich yesterday.
Svitolina, ranked sixth in the world, fired 10 aces and never faced a break point on the way to a 10th career tour title.
She raced to a 3-0 lead before 23-year-old Belarusian Sasnovich found her range with some lethal backhands and briefly threatened to make it a contest. Svitolina, however, unleashed series of powerful groundstrokes a to break again and clinch the first set, before running away with the second.
“It was a tough, tough offseason,” third seed Svitolina, also 23, said on court after the match. “To start with a trophy is always very, very special.”
Earlier, Australia’s Nick Kyrgios battled past defending champion Grigor Dimitrov 3-6 6-1 6-4 to set up a final against American Ryan Harrison at the Brisbane International. In the other semi-final, Harrison came back from a set down to end the dream run of Australian wild card Alex De Minaur in a 4-6 7-6(5) 6-4 victory.