TORONTO-
Overcome with frustration, Simona Halep doubled over and began smashing her racket on the hard court at Sobeys Stadium after missing a return late in the third set of her semi-final.
The two-time champion capitalized on that passion to beat Jessica Pegula of the United States 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first semifinal of the National Bank Open on Saturday. Halep, seeded number 15, will face Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia in the final on Sunday.
Haddad Maia defeated Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 7-6 (9) in the last semifinal to reach a WTA Masters event final for the first time.
Halep said that destroying her racket shows that she is herself again.
“The fire is back,” said a smiling Halep. “It’s a good sign if I do that. It looks like I’m fighting. Sometimes it helps me. I don’t know if it’s always good or not, but it helps me.”
Halep started her season with a victory at Melbourne Summer Set 1. Although it was her 23rd career title, it was her first since 2020. In early April she announced that she would start working with trainer Patrick Mouratoglou.
He said Mouratoglou’s influence has rekindled his passion for tennis.
“The person next to us. Patrick. He brought it,” Halep said, pointing to Mouratoglou. She said her training at her tennis school on the French Riviera has been inspiring.
“The vibe of the academy gave me the energy. Seeing all those kids fighting every day to achieve the dream that they have, I felt like I can still do it. I still have it inside of me.”
After beating Pliskova, Haddad Maia described herself as an emotional player who often screams or raises her fist on the court. She said that, like Halep, she is learning how to channel that passion productively.
“I just try to breathe a little more. I try to calm down and think about what I need to do and not what I’m experiencing,” Haddad Maia said. “I try to play every point and think about the next shot.
“I don’t think ‘Oh, I’m here playing the World No.1 on a big stage at a WTA 1000,’ because otherwise I wouldn’t be able to play.”
The WTA event was tough on the top seeds, as the top six were eliminated before the quarterfinals. Haddad Maia was responsible for three of those upsets, taking down 13th-seeded Leylah Fernandez de Laval, What., World No.1 Iga Swiatek and 14th-seeded Pliskova in succession.
A year ago Haddad Maia was ranked 183rd in the world, he entered this week’s tournament ranked 24th and will be in the top 20 next week.
“I think the results have come because of hard work,” he said. “The only thing I changed in the last 12 months was to focus more on the process and not the results.
“Of course we set goals, and my next goal was to be in the top 20. So I’m very happy because we never know in tennis when it will happen.”
Both Halep and Pegula were visibly frustrated with their own play in the third set after several unforced errors or double faults. Halep finished the match with 10 double faults to one from Pegula, but the American struggled with her return placement.
Romanian flags dotted the stands at the tennis-specific venue on the York University campus and Halep, who won what was then called the Rogers Cup in 2016 and 2018, said she appreciated the support.
“Actually, it felt like we were in Romania today,” he said. “A lot of people were supporting me. Actually, I felt like everyone was supporting me.
“They sent a lot of energy. In the tough moments they really pushed me.”
At the end of the semi-final, Haddad Maia dominated for most of the first set, quickly building a 5-1 lead. However, Plishkova began to build some momentum and won three games in a row.
Haddad Maia’s 184km/h serve on set point threw Plishkova off balance and the Czech player netted her return.
Plishkova got off to a strong start in the second set, building a 4-1 lead. But the 26-year-old Brazilian dug deep, tying the set 5-5.
After the exchange of games, the second set went to tiebreak.
Haddad Maia led the tiebreak 8-7 for the second match point when Pliskova double-faulted, furiously fending off the Brazilian’s return.
Pegula teamed with fellow American Coco Gauff later on Saturday in the semifinal of the doubles tournament, beating Madison Keys of the US and Sania Mirza of India 7-5, 7-5 to advance to Sunday.
Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and fellow Mexican Giuliana Olmos were eliminated Saturday night in a tense semi-final doubles match against American Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Australian Ellen Perez, who won 7-6 (5), 6-3. .
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on August 13, 2022.