Thursday 25 / April / 2024
New York: Fifth-seeded Simona Halep beat 11th seeded Spanish rival Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 7-5 on Monday to reach the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open on Monday.
The 24-year-old Romanian was broken serving for the match at 5-4 but she broke right back, and after falling behind 0-30 in the 11th game swept the last four points in a row to end it.
Halep, who reached the semifinals at Flushing Meadows last year, edged ahead in her rivalry with Suarez Navarro, now leading their head-to-head series 6-5.
"I'm really happy I could win this match. It's really tough to beat her. I just gave everything I had," Halep said in an on-court interview.
The in-form Halep, a three-time winner this year who owns a 23-3 record dating back to start of French Open, will play either top-seeded Serena Williams or unseeded Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan in the quarters.
The Romanian is bracing for a probable showdown with world number one Williams.
"The next round will be a very tough one, so I want to enjoy this victory today," said Halep.
Meanwhile, Juan Martin del Potro's summer renaissance continued as the unseeded Argentine advanced to the quarterfinals when Austrian eighth seed Dominic Thiem quit their match with an injury.
Del Potro, the 2009 U.S. Open winner, whose career has been interrupted by a string of wrist surgeries and needed a wild card to get into the year's last Grand Slam, has made the most of his opportunity by reaching the last eight without dropping a set.
The towering Argentine's path was made a little easier when Thiem retired with an apparent knee injury trailing 6-3, 3-2.
