Australian Open: fitter than ever, Simona Halep breezes into semis in under an hour
- The Romanian needed only 53 minutes to beat Estonian Anett Kontaveit and advance to the next round
- Halep reached the Australian Open final in 2018 before losing to Caroline Wozniacki
Simona Halep spent her off-season away from home for the first time so she could focus fully on 2020 and her quest for a third major title. She’s within two wins of achieving that goal already after breezing into the Australian Open semi-finals with a 6-1, 6-1 win over No. 28-seeded Anett Kontaveit in 53 minutes on Wednesday.
Kontaveit held the opening game at love. From then on, it was all one way as Wimbledon champion Halep went on a relentless, 11-game roll that took the quarter final match away from her Estonian rival.
Halep worked for every point and strangled Kontaveit’s opportunities. She only faced one break point and fended it off with a commanding forehand winner.
In the second set, Halep won the longest rally of the match – a 25-shot exchange – and then followed it up immediately with an ace on the way to 5-0 lead.
“I felt great today on court. I feel my game. I feel strong on my legs. I’ve been focused, every point,” Halep said. “I worked a little bit more in the off-season. First time in my life I did the off-season away from home, so I could be focused. No days off. This year I’ve started very well. I’m feeling much stronger than before.”