ROS SATAR CHECKS IN FROM FLUSHING MEADOWS, TENNIS NEWS, TENNIS GOSSIP, RAIN AND MORE

Written by: Staff on 10th September 2015

ROS SATAR CHECKS IN FROM FLUSHING MEADOWS, TENNIS NEWS, TENNIS GOSSIP, RAIN AND MORE

epa04922573 Simona Halep of Romania hits a return to Victoria Azarenka of Belarus during their quarterfinals match on the tenth day of the 2015 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 09 September 2015. The US Open runs through 13 September, which is a return to a 14-day schedule. EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT |

Whether the weather be good?

Last time on Rozzington’s US Open round up, the last pairing was doing battle for a place in the last four, and things were finely between Simona Halep and Victoria Azarenka. Here we had probably two of the most likely people to take a battle royal to the reigning champion, should they advance to the final. As they went off for the driving rain that threatened to derail the day’s card. They had split sets and Halep had just broken Azeranka back at the start of the decider and was serving at 40/15.

In a one set shoot out it is all about who comes back out in the right frame of mind – and it was Halep who came out swinging, breaking once a couple of games in and taking her one solitary match point.

“It was an amazing match. She played fantastic,” Halep said. “In the first set I was playing my best tennis, and I knew I could win the match, but I also knew she’s very strong and she never gives up.

“The rain delay was perfect for me. It was unbelievable that I had another chance. So I said with my coach, ‘I have to do everything I did in the first set and get this one, because it’s made for me.”

Halep offered some fascinating insight though in a year she has grown a lot more in confidence facing us press demons, as well as dealing (or not!) with the pressure of two outstanding years including her breakthrough year of six titles in 2013. While she has been talking a good talk, her results have struggled, with an undoubted low point being a first round despatch at Wimbledon.

“After Wimbledon I said that the year is finished for me. I cannot win a match. So I took the pressure off of myself. I was going home, relaxing. I didn’t touch racquet for almost four weeks. I wanted just to forget about tennis, about official matches. I just wanted to come back with the pleasure on court and taking just, you know, the fun. Because that’s why I played mixed here, to have fun and to refine the pleasure during the official matches.”

It worked – since then she made the finals in Toronto and Cincinnati and is one step away from her second Grand Slam final.

Preview – Simona Halep v Flavia Pennetta

The last two winners of Indian Wells go head to head and Halep will want to close the gap on Pennetta in terms of their head to head – she trails the Italian 1-3, but won the last encounter at Miami this year.

Pennetta beat Halep on her run to the US Open semi-finals in 2013, but a lot has happened for both of them since then. Halep and Azarenka treated us to some gruelling rallies, and the Italian expects to be made to run all day long. But that’s ok – she does that kind of thing really well too!

“It looks like she’s not that powerful like [Azarenka] but she is,” Pennetta said. “She’s more powerful, I think. And to make a winner against her you have to finish the point seven times. She’s always there. The ball just always comes back, and it’s going to be like a marathon, I think.”

As an aggressive baseliner, Halep will look to battle away from the back of the court and was happily yanking Azarenka left and right, not unlike Pennetta, who worked to pull Petra Kvitova around the court in her quarter-final, so expect there to be more gruelling rallies with both ladies covering a lot of mileage around the court.

Pennetta will look to be sharp on her returns – Halep has a pretty decent serve to boot, and will look to have the Romanian scrambling around the court. While we want a great match, there is always a danger that such a potentially brutal semi-final can be a war of attrition, and ultimately we want a great final at the end of it.

Preview: Serena Williams and Roberta Vinci

Thursday’s Semi-final Tidbits

· Roberta Vinci is in her first Grand Slam semi-final at the age of 32, and is one of three players over 30 fighting for a place in the final. She is actually the oldest player in the Open Era to reach her first career singles Slam final.

· Staying with Vinci – she has actually beaten a World No. 1 – beating Caroline Wozniacki in Toronto

· Flavia Pennetta has made the quarter-finals or better at Slams seven times in her career, with six of those at the US Open – Quarter-finals 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014 and the semi-finals in 2013 and 2015.

· Simona Halep is 1-1 in Slam semi-finals but this is her first US Open semi-final – having beaten Andrea Petkovic in the 2014 French Open to make her maiden Slam final, and losing to Genie Bouchard at Wimbledon the same year.

Ros Satar is a regular contributor to 10sballs.com and runs Britwatch Sports (@britwatchsports), because we Brits like watching sport. Occasionally we’re good at it.

Topics: Flushing Meadows, Ros Satar, Tennis News, US Open, Wta

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10sBalls_com says:

September 10, 2015 at 8:49 am

-@rfsatar CHECKS IN FROM #FlushingMeadows, #TENNIS NEWS, TENNIS GOSSIP, RAIN AND MORE- http://t.co/aFKSKWsyy3 #USOpen2015 #WTA
rfsatar says:

September 11, 2015 at 7:03 am

Previews for the #USOpen women’s semis here for @10sBalls_com

http://t.co/WNw6h7nIaP
britwatchsports says:

September 11, 2015 at 7:03 am

RT @rfsatar: Previews for the #USOpen women’s semis here for @10sBalls_com

http://t.co/WNw6h7nIaP