No. 1 seed Simona Halep left behind her back pains and got a new convincing win in Cluj. It was 6-1, 6-1 against fellow Romanian Jaqueline Cristian, who is the pleasant surprise of the tournament. Halep thus reaches her second semifinal this season after Stuttgart, back in April.
Same as in her previous match, Halep seemed untouchable today: too good in defense, too good when attacking, too good on serve and very clear with her intentions. Jaqueline Cristian tried her best to resist, but Halep never let her impose her game. Simona has found her consistency and her well-balanced aggressiveness, proving once more there is little left until she reaches her usual level.
Simona won 81% of her first-serve points and more than 40% on return. She was intimidating in every way and took each set in about 30 minutes. All these are good news after the worrying physical problems she felt during the previous encounter.
As for Cristian, her excellent route in Cluj – two wins against higher ranked players – ends here. It should be only the beginning for the young Romanian: her career is going in the right direction, her game and attitude are appropriate, so good things should come her way as she will soon enter Top 100.
For a place in TO’s final, Simona will play against the Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk.
