No. 5 seed Simona Halep continued the momentum she has built all summer hard-court season long, routing world No. 56 Kirsten Flipkens, 6-0, 6-2, in the first round on Tuesday in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Flipkens matched the 24-year-old Romanian’s ground strokes at times, but too often the veteran Belgian’s slice backhands fell short and invited attack. Halep was relentless, pounding two-fisted backhands from every corner of the court to close out a first-set bagel in 24 minutes.
The second set was only a slight improvement for Flipkens. In her off-court interview, Halep admitted that nerves caused her only hiccup of the match: double-faulting away a match point at 5-0, 40-30 in the second set, and then spraying a backhand and forehand to put Flipkens on the scoreboard. The reprieve was short-lived, however, as Halep closed out the match with one of her 22 winners of the match (compared to only 11 for Flipkens) at precisely the one-hour mark.
La preclasificada numero 5, Simona hales continua exhibiendo el gran nivel que se le vio en canchas duras durante todo el verano, superando a la numero 56, Kirsten Flipkens con parciales de 6-0 y 6-2 en la primera ronda del US Open de tenis en el Arthur Ashe Stadium.
flipkens sacudio a la rumana de 24 años, pero no lo suficiente para frenar a la rumana que necesito solo de 24 minutos para ganar el primer set…
El segundo fue mas de lo mismo, control de la rumana, con un par de dobles faltas, reconocidas por un poco de nervios, ante la inminencia de la victoria cuando estaba 5-0 y 40-30 en el segundo set….De todas formas, Halep sentencio su victoria con 22 disparos ganadores en el partido que termino exactamente en una hora.