Wimbledon Champion Halep Knocked Out Of Adelaide International Quarters
16th January 2020
Sabalenka will battle Dayana Yastremska on Friday for a place in the final after the Ukrainian 19-year-old beat a second top 20 opponent this week when she put out Croat Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-3
- Two-time Grand Slam winner Simona Halep will head into the Australian Open with room for improvement after being upset 6-4, 6-2 by Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday at the ATP-WTA Adelaide International\
- The reigning Wimbledon champion and former world number one dropped serve five times and was flattened in the second set by her opponent from Belarus
- In the first set, Halep twice lost break advantages, with Sabalenka coming through with a third break of serve in the final game on a double-fault from the seed
ADELAIDE, Australia-
Two-time Grand Slam winner Simona Halep will head into the Australian Open with
room for improvement after being upset 6-4, 6-2 by Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday
at the ATP-WTA Adelaide International.
The reigning Wimbledon champion and former world number one
dropped serve five times and was flattened in the second set by her opponent
from Belarus.
The 71-minute rout leaves Halep standing 1-1 for the season
with the first Grand Slam of the year starting on Monday in Melbourne.
Sabalenka will battle Dayana Yastremska on Friday for a
place in the final after the Ukrainian 19-year-old beat a second top 20
opponent this week when she put out Croat Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-3.
Sabalenka, ranked 12th to Halep's fourth, won her first
match after two losses to the Romanian, coached by Australian Darren Cahill.
"It feels great, we had a tough match and she played
well," Sabalenka said. "I tried to stay focused on each point.
"I don't care about the Grand Slam, I'm just playing each match.
"I didn't care about the past, I stayed in the moment,
that helped me to win."
In the first set, Halep twice lost break advantages, with
Sabalenka coming through with a third break of serve in the final game on a
double-fault from the seed.
In the second, the Belarussian ran away with it -- Halep
drew applause and raised her arms in mock triumph as she finally won a game
while trailing 5-0, but the youngster fired a winning return to seal match
point.
Yastremska, ranked 24th, was thrilled to get past
Vekic.
"It's nice to be in the semi-finals just in the
beginning of the year," she said. "I'm not playing my best game, but
it's still nice.
"I'm just getting my form. I have a big goal for
Australia, but I'm going to try to stay really realistic and play match by
match. That's all I can think about."
Australian top seed Ashleign Barty plays later against
Marketa Vondrousova while fourth seed Belinda Bencic faces American Danielle
Collins.
In men's play, South African Lloyd Harris beat Spanish
fourth seed Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 6-3 to book a semi-final berth.