Simona Halep’s reign as the No 1 player in women’s tennis has been peculiar. The Romanian reached the top without a Grand Slam title, as many have in recent times, but she also had two crushing losses in Major finals in the span of a year to her name.
The 27-year-old did break that barrier when she came from a set and a break down to win the French Open last year, but her erratic career trajectory didn’t seem to change much as she lost early at the next two Slams.
At the US Open, she was stunned in the first round by Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi in the first round and hadn’t won a match since, a combination of injuries and poor first-round losses ending her first full season as the top-ranked Major champion.
But, in a stunning reversal of the loss at Flushing Meadows, Halep came back from a set and a break down to beat Kanepi 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-2 in the first round of the Australian Open on Tuesday. The first win of 2019 was crucial for the top seed in many ways, even as she came very close to losing to the Estonian in the first round for a second straight time in a Slam.
Coming back from injury, Halep is playing without a long-time coach Darren Cahill and is on a five-match losing streak. That is a blow both physically and mentally, and playing Kanepi again was never going to be easy for the Romanian.
But she persevered, like she did in the French Open semi-finals against Angelique Kerber, a testament of her immense willpower and endurance. But the tough first-round win should be a major eye-opener for the world No 1, who could well lose her ranking in Melbourne.
Against 33-year-old Kanepi, Halep was blown away by her opponent’s speed and power. The top seed’s problems were compounded by lack of match practice.
Halep can grind at the baseline, but Kanepi was running circles around her, especially at the net. Despite being the more energetic of the two players, as per a stat by Tennis Australia, she had no answer Estonian’s powerful groundstrokes as she lost the first set tiebreak.
Halep, then, drilled what could have been the final nail by losing her serve in the third game of the second set.
The warrior in the 27-year-old resurfaced, breaking back immediately and not losing serve for the rest of the match, even as Kanepi faded physically.
Not that Halep made it easy on herself, wasting three sets points on Kanepi’s serve in the second, but once the marathon woman dug in her heels and covered the margins she missed, she was in her zone.
Kanepi hit 40 winners to Halep’s 25 but also committed 62 unforced errors to the 19 by her opponent: statistics which not only show how powerful the senior player’s strokes were but also how she was being forced to go for broke. But when the big moments came, the workhorse No 1 prevailed.
An eye-opener
Halep is known for her physicality; grinding out results with her incredulous endurance at the baseline. But her physical game is also very dependent on her mental state.
Often in the past, her mentality has let games go to the extent where former coach Cahill decided to take a break. But in 2018, we saw the ‘new Simo’ and slowly she has become a more mature player.
She is the most consistent No 1 in the post-Serena Williams era and that is no coincidence. In 2017, we saw five different women try to hold on to the crown; in 2018, only Halep – with a brief stay by Caroline Wozniacki – occupied that spot.
It shows that Halep, even with her many losses, is someone who isn’t going to go down without a fight. At the same time, one may argue, she clearly lacks the intimidation factor that a top seed should have at a Major.
When a lower-ranked player draws Halep in the first week of a Slam, they go in thinking they have a chance at an upset. Kanepi has done it before but was perhaps undone by her own fitness issues.
As a world No 1 and a Slam champion, this is the time for Halep to dictate points, and matches, early in the Slam. This match would have summed up how much more work is needed for her to dominate the field.
She is without a coach now, but anyone in her team can tell her that she needed to mix up her game a lot more. Against a hitter like Kanepi, she needed to be clever, use the court and come to the net.
There is only so long she will be able to use her marathon-running endurance to push for matches. She cannot wait for her opponent’s levels to drop, if she wants to make another final run, or go a step further. Admittedly, Halep has the toughest draw of all, but motoring to the ‘quarter of death’ is what will set her apart.
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