Happy Halep Wins First Title In Australia At Melbourne 1, Cruises Past Kudermetova
For all her accomplishments, Simona Halep had never won a title in Australia. She changed that Sunday in Melbourne cruising past Veronika Kudermetova 6-2, 6-3 to collect her 23rd career trophy.
The former Australian Open finalist needed just 74 minutes to win her first title since 2020 September in Rome
After an injury-marred 2021, Halep was thrilled with her start to this season.
“The body is great, I feel good,” said Halep. “I had a tough five matches, and my body is good. I don’t feel that tired. Physically I’m in the right place. Confidence is growing. I feel confident. I feel that I have the game to win matches.”
While the scorelines appears one-sided, Halep was down a break in both sets, falling behind 2-1 in the first set and 3-0 in the second. From those points, she didn’t drop another game in either set.
“I’m not that scared when I lose serve because I lose often the serve, but I am confident in my return. I’m not getting scared there,” Halep said. “I didn’t even think that I lost the serve, I just focused on the return. I just focused on every game I played. I was very positive.”
The Romanian will now head to Melbourne to ready for the Australian Open.
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