Madrid: Halep Interview
An interview with Simona Halep after her win in the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open.
An interview with Simona Halep after her win in the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open.
MADRID, Spain – No.6 seed Simona Halep avoided the upset bug sweeping through the Mutua Madrid Open draw, easing past Karin Knapp and into the third round.
Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Madrid right here on wtatennis.com!
Over the opening three days of competition, 10 of the 16 seeds have bitten the dust, and Halep made in inauspicious start against Knapp, dropping serve in the opening game when her forehand missed its mark.
However, from that point onwards it was one-way traffic. Knapp has struggled for fitness recently – she underwent knee surgery last September and her recovery has been compromised by ankle problems – and Halep exposed her movement to take control with a run of eight straight games.
After little over an hour on court the Romanian arrived at match point, launching herself into a forehand return to emphatically close out a 6-1, 6-1 victory.
“We shouldn’t forget that she was injured, she had knee surgery, so she’s coming back and it wasn’t her best day,” Halep said. “But still I played some good tennis and I tried to just stick to my game.”
Halep reached the final in the Spanish capital two years ago, falling to Maria Sharapova in three dramatic sets. Since then, the Romanian’s form has fluctuated, and she entered this clay court campaign with relatively few matches under her belt.
“I just want to get better and better every day and I want to see how good I can be. I want to see how many matches I can win because I really need to win matches now, I just want to be relaxed now – I’m not thinking about the results.”
These relative struggles have enabled Halep to enter the tournament without the weight of expectation that has followed for much of the past few seasons: “Sometimes people around you expect better results, and that’s why you start to feel frustrated and nervous. Now I feel good, I have no points to defend – I’m free!”
No.10 seed Timea Bacsinszky awaits next after she edged past Ekaterina Makarova, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. Halep has won two of their three meetings on tour, although did taste defeat earlier this year in Miami.
“Bacsinszky is revenge! It’s going to be hard, it’s going to be difficult, a tough match for sure. I just want to go on court relaxed and play my game. It’s a good tournament, good people around me, so I am in a good place mentally and physically.”
An interview with Dominika Cibulkova after her win in the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open.
MADRID, Spain – Last year, the biggest names in women’s tennis put down their phones and pulled their best faces in the first ever WTA Emoji Challenge.
Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Madrid right here on wtatennis.com!
This week, they’re at it again at the Mutua Madrid Open; co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza join reigning Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber, Sunshine Double winner Victoria Azarenka, Agnieszka Radwanska, Simona Halep, Garbiñe Muguruza, Petra Kvitova, Roberta Vinci, Carla Suárez Navarro, and Sloane Stephens to have some fun, flex some muscle, and imitate some of the newest and most memorable textual expressions.
How do they fare? Check out the video and some of the best pictures from the Second Annual WTA Emoji Challenge:
Sania Mirza & Martina Hingis
Simona Halep
Garbiñe Muguruza
Sloane Stephens
Roberta Vinci
Carla Suárez Navarro
Agnieszka Radwanska
Angelique Kerber
Victoria Azarenka
Petra Kvitova
An interview with Carla Suárez Navarro after her win in the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open.
Dominika Cibulkova stared into the face of defeat against Caroline Garcia, but rallied back to advance to the round of 16 at the Mutua Madrid Open; Timea Bacsinszky also advanced.
Simona Halep, Carla Suárez Navarro, Garbiñe Muguruza, Victoria Azarenka and the rest of Madrid’s top seeds took to the practice courts ahead of the Mutua Madrid Open.
Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza made a confident start to their Mutua Madrid Open challenge, seeing off Chuang Chia-Jung and Daria Jurak in under an hour.
Highlights from the second round action at the Mutua Madrid Open.
We took Andrea Petkovic on a tour of Real Madrid’s stadium, the Santiago Bernabéu, and she did more than just see the extensive trophy case – she found true love.