By Chris Oddo | Monday, October 20, 2014
Simona Halep eased past an error-prone Eugenie Bouchard to join Serena Williams atop the red group's standings in Singapore.
Photo Source: Clive Brunskill/Getty
In a battle of WTA Finals debutantes, Simona Halep played with the poise of a grizzled veteran while Eugenie Bouchard seemed a bit overwhelmed by the bright lights and electric atmosphere of the brand new Singapore Sports Hub.
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The result? A convincing opening-match triumph for Halep, 6-2, 6-3, and a bit of revenge for a loss suffered in the Wimbledon semifinal this year.
Halep, taking advantage of an error-prone Bouchard, raced out to a 4-0 lead before the Canadian could get on the board. Though the Canadian would manage a few holds, Halep would continue to play clean, purposeful tennis, closing the set on her first set point when a body serve forced Bouchard to spray a backhand wide.
With an error count of 16 against only 2 for Halep in the opener, there was seemingly nowhere to go but up in the second set for Bouchard, but after suffering a break in the third game to fall behind, she was never able to draw even.
Halep would break once more for good measure, closing the match when Bouchard tossed in a double-fault on Halep’s first match point.
Bouchard finished with 30 unforced errors on the match, while Halep committed only 11.
Notes, Numbers
Halep takes the lead in the head-to-head with Bouchard, 2-1, with the victory.
Halep, 23, and Bouchard, 20, are the two youngest players in this year’s WTA Finals.
Seven players have advanced to the final on their WTA Finals debut, and three (Serena Williams, 2001, Maria Sharapova, 2004 and Petra Kvitova, 2011) have won the title.