First of all, right in the first day of the prestigious tournament held at Flushing Meadows, Alexandra Dulgheru was the one to cause the surprise of the tournament. She defeated none other than Petra Kvitova, the 2011 Wimbledon champion. Helped by a strong mental, a killer determination and Kvitova's huge number of unforced errors, Alex was able to close the match after only two sets, 7-6, 6-3. Her next opponent will be countrywoman Monica Niculescu, who beat Patricia Mayr to qualify in the second round.
The other big surprise, maybe even bigger than the first one, despite the rankings, was the lovely nineteen year-old Simona Halep defeating 2011 French Open champion, Na Li. She's from my hometown! :) (I had to mention it.) This was a huge surprise for me, as the Chinese seemed in a great shape lately. When I made my US Open predictions, I had to choose between her and another player for the women's title. Now I'm glad I chose the other player... However, I am impressed by Simona's constant results this year. She has made a second-round appearance or better at every Grand Slam tournament, a quarterfinal in Auckland and a final in Fes. She started to win matches over Top 20 players and Grand Slam champions, as Svetlana Kuznetsova at the beginning of the month, at Toronto, and now, of course, Top 10 player Na Li. For her performance here, Simona Halep was named 'Player of the Day' on the official US Open site.
“It's not easy to play against one Grand Slam champ because it's very top level,” Halep said. “I had emotion. I was nervous before the match. But I wanted just to enjoy the match, to feel the ball good, and to play my best. And it was good.”
Simona's next opponent will be Carla Suarez Navarro from Spain. Hai, fetele! :)
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