DUBAI // Wacky Wednesday? Wretched Wednesday? Not for Simona Halep or Caroline Wozniacki.
Taking the court after five of the top eight seeds had fallen by the wayside, Halep cruised past Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4, 6-3 into the last eight, where she meets No 6 seed Ekaterina Makarova.
Wozniacki, on the other hand, shrugged off the draining affects of the flu, to down last year’s losing finalist Alize Cornet 6-4, 6-0.
The two, thankfully for the organisers and fans, brought order to a day of scorching heat and mayhem.
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Halep said she was not even aware of the upsets that preceded her appearance on the court.
“I didn’t watch, to be honest,” Halep said. “I just did my work before going on court. I practised, I had a little bit of treatment with my physio.”
A preparation that paid off for Halep against an opponent she was facing for the first time.
Playing in the night was a relief as well, although, it was not easy, certainly not at the start. She did not win a point in the first two games as Pironkova raced to a 2-0 lead.
The Romanian slowly found her range, though, and started dictating. She broke back in the eighth game and then took the set with another break.
The two traded serves at the start of set two as well before Halep inched ahead with a break in the sixth game.
“Yeah, wasn’t easy because she has, I can say, a little bit of a strange game because it is different,” Halep said. “She’s hitting the backhand a little bit under the ball and it’s coming very strange, and you cannot hit with a lot of power.”
Makarova, though, is a familiar rival. The only top 8 seed to avoid the afternoon cull, the Russian knocked Halep out of the Australian Open last month, winning their quarter-final duel 6-4, 6-0.
“In Australia, it was very tough,” Halep said. “I couldn’t play my best that day, but she was better than me there. But tomorrow is another day, another game, so I have my chance to win, but still I expect a tough match. I have to run a lot and to be careful because she’s a lefty.”
Later on Wednesday night, Wozniacki, having slept through the day because of the flu, produced a dominant performance.
“I had a year where I got sick here and I won the tournament,” said Wozniacki, when asked if she had considered pulling out. “I got sick, played Doha, made it to the finals. Was healthy for the finals and lost. So, you know, maybe it isn’t such a bad thing after all.”
arizvi@thenational.ae
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