Simona Halep (30 years old, number 19 WTA) qualified for the quarter-finals of the Kremlin Cup, after defeating the host’s favorite, Veronika Kudermetova (24 years old, world number 32), score 6-1, 7- 6 .
The player from Romania started the match perfectly and won the first set in stride, but the hard part came in the second act, when Kudermetova leveled the game and sent the set to a tiebreak. Simona Halep thanked the Russian supporters present for the fairness they showed during the game.
” It was a tough match. I knew I wasn’t winning even though I took the first set. She is a strong opponent. She raised her level in the second set and maybe I made a few unforced errors, but I’m happy with the win, it wasn’t easy.
Thank you all for coming! It’s always a pleasure to play here. You were fair play today, you also supported me, not only Veronika “, said Simona Halep after the game.
The former world leader ended the post-match interview with a joke. Given that in the first two rounds she met Anastasia Potapova and Veronika Kudermetova, two of the Russians present in the main draw of the WTA tournament in Moscow, Halep expected another confrontation with an athlete from Russia.
” Will I play another player from Russia in the next round? “, joked Simona Halep, raising the smiles of those present.
However, Simona will have a much more difficult mission in the quarters. The athlete from Constanța will fight for a place in the aces box with Maria Sakkari, the seventh player in the world , who, with the qualification in the quarters in Moscow, secured her presence at the Tournament of Champions, scheduled for mid-November in Mexico, in Guadalajara.
