After a stunning summer that seen Simona Halep finally win the Wimbledon trophy she coveted so much, the Romanian is right back onto the tennis scene and looks set to defend another big trophy: the Rogers Cup. Having enjoyed such a great summer, there was going to be some natural rust to her game – and when Jennifer Brady went a set up, the nerves kicked in.
Halep, though, shows a level of composure that simply did not exist to her game even a year ago. The No. 4 seed did not panic as the match switched and adjusted in the favour of her opponent. Instead of worrying, she started to play her own game and over the rest of the match slowly but surely suffocated control of the game again. Before long, Brady couldn’t keep up with her consistency and her ability to grow into the tie.
While Brady started to lose focus and make mistakes, Halep tightened her game up with every shot. The end result was that Halep took total control of the tie, eventually forcing the match back into her favour. Having said that her Wimbledon masterpiece was the best match of her career, Halep had to tap into a fraction of that power to come out of the other side here.
With a surprising 33 unforced errors, Halep came through a poor start and considerable fatigue to turn what looked to be a tough slog into a stunning win.
