CLUJ-NAPOCA, Romania – Top-seeded Simona Halep cruised into the semi-finals of the Transylvania Open in Romania, but US Open champion Emma Raducanu lost to a fellow teenager in less than an hour.
No. 2-seeded Anett Kontaveit of Estonia also had a smooth path into the semi-finals, beating Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine 6-3, 6-1 for her 13th straight indoor win, following titles in Ostrava and Moscow.
The win kept the second-seeded Estonian in the race for the season-ending WTA finals next month.
The third-seeded Raducanu lost 6-2, 6-1 to 19-year-old Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine after struggling with her serve throughout the match.
“I put the fight in Indian Wells for one set and then I didn’t play well in the second set, not a big fight, so I’m really hoping I can give as much fight as I can,” said Kostyuk.
Both teenagers fired 12 winners apiece, but it was Kostyuk who played more mature and versatile tennis, committing only 16 unforced errors.
Prior to the match, Raducanu recalled of her junior contemporary: “She destroyed me every single time.”
Kostyuk’s memory was slightly better, triggered by being tagged on social media by Tennis Europe.
“The day before the [Auray] match Wilson came to me and they were like, we want to sign a contract with you,” she recalled. “They gave me racquets and they gave me new strings. And I couldn’t put the ball in court the next day.
“When I saw the head-to-head, I remembered how I played her once again [in Hasselt]. I remember playing her but I don’t remember the match, it was so long ago.”
The Ukrainian displayed more nous regarding when to go for her shots and when to remain solid, while Raducanu’s flashes of brilliance came in intermittent flurries.
The US Open champion was also beset by seven double faults, two of which came in an opening game she lost from 40-15 up. Another two came back-to-back to drop serve at the start of the second set.
Attempting to power through Kostyuk’s remarkably elastic defence only lured Raducanu into ever-wilder errors as the match progressed.
The tie came alive somewhat in the final game, a seven-deuce mini-epic as Raducanu served to stay in the match. The Briton staved off three match points with clean winners, but shanked a backhand wide on the fourth.
Raducanu double-faulted seven times and won less than half the points in her service games as Kostyuk advanced to her third semi-final of the season.
Kostyuk will aim to reach her first career final when she plays Halep, who eased past fellow Romanian player Jacqueline Cristian 6-1, 6-1.
“I don’t know how I won the first game, I think that’s where everything started,” Kostyuk said. “I somehow won that game and I gained this confidence, like I’m not going to lose this match. After that, by the fifth game maybe, I figured out how to play her – today. Maybe next time I play it’s going to be different tactics.
“It was quick, but I couldn’t read her – if her ball is in, it’s really tough to do something. I was trying to put as many balls back as I could, and that’s it.”
Kontaveit’s 62-minute defeat of Kalinina keeps the Estonian in the hunt for the last open spot at the Akron WTA Finals Guadalajara. She needs to win the title this week to overtake Ons Jabeur, who is currently No.8 in the Race to the WTA Finals.
Kontaveit was supremely efficient in taking another step towards that goal. Kalinina captured the first break of the match for a 2-1 lead, but Kontaveit immediately broke back and thereafter did not face another break point. She is now on a 13-match indoor winning streak following titles this autumn in Ostrava and Moscow, and has won 24 of her past 26 matches overall.
Discussion about this post