As Simona Halep lost a lot of points in Madrid she might lose her no 1 ranking if she does not defend her points in Rome. Last year she was a finalist.
FINALISTS:
Simona Halep (Romania) and Elina Svitolina (Ukraine)
This was a repeat of the last year's final, and the outcome was the same. Simona Halep was not able to regian her shape from the previous match with Sharapova. Svitolina played a perfect game and Halep failed to find a way she can beat her. It seemed Svitolina had no weak points in this final. After a shock loss in the first set, 6 to 0, Halep kind of started playing better but it was not enough. The second set ended 6-4, and the trophy went again to the Ukrainean.
Last year Simona Halep reached the final in Rome but lost to Elina Svitolina. Her current No position can be maintained if she defends as many of the points as she can. With Caroline Wozniacki, ranked No 2, leaving the competition in the quarter-Simona is able to maintain her position, but a title in Rome would be a great achievement and would consolidate her leadership in the WTA rankings. For now, she is going to maintain the No 1 position untill at least the start of French Open (Roland Garros). This means Simona is also seeded first for the French tournament.
Halep beat Caroline Garcia in two sets. She did not have to work too much for the victory as Garcia commited error after error. Meanwhile, Sharapova comes after a not so easy win over Jelena Osptapenko in the quarter-finals, so she would be theoreticaly more exhausted. Halep did not play the match in the Round of 15 because her opponent Madison Keys has retired. It will be an interesting match to watch, definitely.
Simona talked about the semifinal against Sharapova, saying she is expecting a very difficult game and that she has only one thing in mind: to play a good match. "I look forward for a difficult match, of course. It was always difficult against Sharapova, but I know I have a chance, and if I do my game it will be fine. I will try to do everything on court in order to win, but I do not have other expectations. I will enter the court and give my best. This is what I want."
She also mentioned she is not thinking about statistics, which favor the Russian with 7 wins to 1 loss. "I feel this match is open, anyone can win. I do not thing about the past confrontations."
The last meeting between Simona and Maria in Beijing. Simona won in two sets, 6-2, 6-2:
The Quarter final against Caroline Garcia, score 6-2, 6-3:
