Simona Halep is the No. 2 seed at the United States Open,
and she entered her round of 16 match with more hardcourt victories
this year than any other woman in the main draw, having compiled a 35-5
record.
But
she had never reached the Open quarterfinals until Monday, when she
escaped with a 6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-2 victory over 24th-seeded Sabine
Lisicki.
Like
Halep, Petra Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, had been among the
final eight at the other three majors but had never found much fortune
once the U.S. Open rolled around.
The
fifth-seeded Kvitova also claimed her first quarterfinal berth at the
Open, earning a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Johanna Konta on Monday night.
Kristina
Mladenovic, who upset No. 13 Ekaterina Makarova in a match that ended
early Monday, is also a first-time quarterfinalist here.
Just
making the fourth round was a good result for Halep. At last year’s
Open, she was also the No. 2 seed, and she lost in the third round to
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, a qualifier ranked 121st. This year Halep lost in
the second round at the French Open, where she was a finalist last year, and in the first round at Wimbledon. She has changed coaches twice in the past year.
Halep, a 23-year-old Romanian, said she had carried high expectations at the French Open and Wimbledon. “So here I changed a little bit my mind,” she added, “and I have no expectations.”
In the quarterfinals Wednesday, Halep will face 20th-seeded Victoria Azarenka,
who advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Varvara Lepchenko of the
United States. Halep called Azarenka a “fighter girl,” but she could
easily have been describing herself Monday.
Against
Lisicki, Halep served for the first set at 5-4 but was broken, and she
also had a set point in the tiebreaker. During the set, she frequently
swung her racket at the ground or at her body in frustration. Lisicki
won the set despite 30 unforced errors, including 22 from her forehand
side.
Between
sets, Halep sat in her chair, looking down with her head in her hand.
She took a medical timeout to treat an apparent thigh injury.
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