Congrats Simona and for not giving up after that second set.
Begu.. realy impressed of her week. Her forehand is more stable she find some consistency in game, mentally is stronger, today she just didn't had anything left in the gas tank to realy beat Simona. Good week and keep this way.
NID about the result though. Handshake not as warm as expected. Not surprising if it's true that Begu's coach played as much of a part in this match as she did.
That 0-6 just shows how little Simona can do when she starts to be in a big disadvantage. No way she should ever get bageled by Begu.
Her draw is great here, she has a good chance for the title. But let's see how she plays in the semifinal of a big tournament. We never know how she'll deal with the pressure. :spit:
Not much love lost between Simona and Irina. I wonder if it has anything to do with Simona acting like a brat at some point or some previous conflict. Anyway, good win for Simona, despite turning into a nutcase in the second set.
I'm not sure Simona was too fond of Irina's failed ball tosses which only ever seemed to happen on break/game points. See how Simona turned her back and made Irina wait a couple of times when that happened. She also complained to Darren about Irina getting coaching from the stands.
Simona! Why does she get so I don't know, angry during her matches? Good win for her! I remember her saying it's an important tournament for her so hopefully she wins it now! Be more positive Simona! Final is very close.
Quite many interesting things in this match. My positive surprises about Irina-Camelia Begu:
- occasionally she had rather dangerous 1st serves (though, at other times producing DFs)
- she was quite consistent in some longer rallies (and at both wings)!
- she was smart enough to attack Simona's BH corner (good tactics and well execution!)
On the contra side, she was rather erratic (nervous?). Anyway, she has still room for further improvement!
Simona, on the other side, was NOT using her Down-The-Line type shots often enough, especially the FHDTL, that could have been good to prevent Begu's attacks. Also, she started the 2nd set in very erratic mode. I think she was too impatient/nervous - instead of correcting her tactical deficiencies. What is more, if your opponent is consistent, you have to risk more: you have to come closer to the net to finish some otherwise longer rallies. This time Simona did NOT remembered well enough to this. The cost of these things was the 2nd set, and the unnecessary risking of the whole match.
But in the end, she won the match, and deservedly. :yeah:
At least Simona cared. She was angry after that lost second set. The exchange with her coach was tense. He told her she had to re-focus, she was disturbed by little things. When she applauded several times her camp with her racquet during the third set after a mistake, it looked ironical, but in the end she was happy to win so I guess it feels right. To me Cahill was right on the point (once again).
Begu didn't seem to realize she was disturbing Halep with her "fake" toss. You don't have to be disturbed yourself when your opponent asks you to wait because you distracted her with your fake toss. At one time Simona said "sorry, wait, wait" but it's the opponent who's supposed to say "sorry" when using several tosses.
At least she talked to him this time :lol:, though she seemed more eager to vent about the sideline coaching from Irina's camp than actually talk about how she could turn the set around (at 0-3). :spit: