October 31, (THEWILL) – Anett Kontaveit defeated Simona Halep 6-2, 6-3, in the final of the Transylvania Open in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, on Sunday, giving her a fourth title in her last seven tournaments and a berth in the WTA Finals in Guadalajara.
Kontaveit joins Aryna Sabalenka, Barbora Krejcikova, Karolina Pliskova, Maria Sakkari, Iga Swiatek, Garbine Muguruza, and Paula Badosa as the eighth and last qualifier for the season-ending event in Mexico.
After trading holds in the first two games, Halep brought up a breakpoint with Kontaveit serving at 1-all, indicating that it would be a close final. The Estonian, though, fought out a 2-1 hold, broke for 3-1, and never looked back, winning the first set after 28 minutes.
Halep began to gather pace after that, leaping out to a 2-0 second-set lead, but Kontaveit responded by winning five straight games to take a 6-2, 5-2 lead—Halep fought off a couple match points, held, and narrowed the distance to 6-2, 5-3, but Kontaveit quickly served it out in the following game.
Coincidentally, both players had the same number of unforced errors, 28 for Kontaveit and 29 for Halep, but the Estonian hit more than twice as many winners throughout the match, 21 to 9. After an hour and ten minutes on the court, it was all over.
“I’m kind of speechless,” said Kontaveit, who had never won a set against Halep in three previous meetings. “This week was incredible for me. Of course I’d like to congratulate Simona—you’re such a huge role model, I’ve looked up to you for so many years, and you’ve beaten me so many times.
“It was an honor to share a court with you.”
Halep was humble in defeat: “Anett, you crushed me. But I had an amazing week. It was a tough year. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to play so well this week, but playing at home is always better. I’m sad that I couldn’t win, but Anett was too good today.
“Next year, I will be here again.”
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
