Angelique Kerber is eliminated in the quarter-finals of the French Open 2018. Kerber lost to world number one Simona Halep 7-6 (2), 3-6 and 2-6 and now faces Garbine Muguruza.
By Jens Huiber in Paris
Simona Halep feels very comfortable on the Court Philippe Chatrier. Not only on the pitch as an active spectator, but also in the role of a spectator. Since however in exposed place: in the box of Ion Tiriac. This can be called the best in the house, behind the baseline, close to the players’ entrance.
Halep visited Tiriac, former manager of Boris Becker, during the match between Rafael Nadal and Maximilian Marterer. The exchange is always friendly, Tiriac also sees himself as a mentor of his countrywoman.
A little problem for Halep: Her semi-final match against Angelique Kerber was scheduled on the court Suzanne Lenglen. But even there Ion Tiriac showed up. With a striking white hat. And there Kerber continued her excellent performance against Caoline Garcia, but lost 7:6 (2), 3:6 and 2:6 against Halep in the end.
The start of the match could not have been better for the German: Kerber made hardly any mistakes and took the initiative at the right moments. 4:0 after twelve minutes with two breaks, Halep had no chance to get there, didn’t even have a game ball. This caught up with last year’s finalist, shortened to 3:4.
Halep tried to speed up. But Kerber had more variation to offer, be it with stops, here and there also with higher balls to put himself back in a better position. Nevertheless, Halep managed to equal the score after 43 minutes to 5:5. 58 minutes later, Kerber secured himself with a solid tie-break set one.
In the second set Halep came in with a break and after 1:43 hours he equalized the sets. With a break. Thus, the number one in the world was able to start the decision with its own serve.
In those minutes, Halep was at the trigger, taking a 2-0 break. Kerber got the rebreak right away. Their last match had gone into extra time, Halep won the Australian Open semi-final 9-7 in the third set. There wasn’t that much drama this time: Halep hit back immediately, didn’t let anything burn until 6:2 after 2:14 hours.
In the semifinal, Garbine Muguruza is now waiting. The 2016 World Ranking Third and French Open winner delivered a show of strength against Maria Sharapova, winning 6-2 and 6-1 after just under 70 minutes, while Madison Keys and then winner Sloane Stephens will replay the final of the 2017 US Open in the second semi-final.