By Chris Oddo | Sunday October 23, 2016
Simona Halep continues to create puzzling matchup issues for Madison Keys.
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On her debut at the WTA Finals, Keys found herself once again at a severe disadvantage in the rallies against Halep. The 21-year-old American was broken twice in each set and four times in ten opportunities overall, and fell 6-2, 6-4 in the opening match at the 2016 WTA Finals.
Halep has now won five in a row against Keys, including four this season.
In her first match on the slow-playing indoor courts of the Singapore Indoor Stadium, Keys tossed in 41 unforced errors against just 16 winners, and only managed one ace.
Halep finished with just five winners against 12 unforced, but her minus-7 winner to unforced error ratio gave her more than enough cushion to ease past Keys and into first place in the Red Group at Singapore.
Halep, one of eight players to have reached the WTA Finals in her debut (2014), now owns a 5-4 record at the WTA Finals. She is making her third appearance at the event.