Australian Open: Simona Halep turns the super match against Tomljanovic, Osaka smoothly
Simona Halep turned an almost lost match against Ajla Tomljanovic in her favor. Naomi Osaka is also in round 3.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit:
Feb 10, 2021, 12:06 pm
In the end, after her 4: 6, 6: 4 and 7: 5 victory over the Australian Ajla Tomljanovic, Simona Halep had to do something on understatement. Did she expect such a tough match? "Yes," said Halep, "I actually expected her to play very well, she's a tough opponent," she said - and it's possible that that's true. On the other hand: If Tomljanovic were to put this playful class on the floor more often from Tuesday evening, it would be placed significantly higher than on rank 72.
The Australian led 5: 2 in the third set, she played courageously - but in the end the tireless Halep fought her way back. Tomljanovic did not give up, however, in a close service game at 5: 5, she defended again brilliantly with a backhand and a forehand board two breakballs after long rallies, but it was not enough. "In the end I was perhaps a little stronger mentally, I wanted to win this match, I didn't want to give up," said Halep, who is popular in Australia, not least thanks to her training relationship with "Aussie" Darren Cahill .
In the end, Tomljanovic won 37 winners with 57 mistakes without need, 28 to 37 were the numbers for the long-running winner Halep, who now meets Vera Kudermetova.
Naomi Osaka smoothly on
Meanwhile, Naomi Osaka is on without any problems. The world number three, winner from 2019, beat French Caroline Garcia 6: 2, 6: 3 in the first match of the Night Session. Osaka did not allow anything, especially when serving on their own, and did not allow Garcia a single break chance. At the end of the day, 23 winners out of 10 mistakes without need were in their statistics.
Osaka will now face Ons Jabeur.
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