Halep battles past Kudermetova to reach Australian Open R4

Simona Halep battled past a very nervous Kudermetova to reach the 4th round of the Australian Open.

It was a solid match from Simona who took advantage of the very nervous Kudermetova from the start to win it 6-1 6-3. Simona Halep started off furiously in this match taking an early break off her opponent which boosted her confidence to continue playing. It was visible from the start that she was eager to avoid the issues she faced against Tomljanovic and she played much better overall. She hit 4 aces along with 14 winners and only 8 errors to cruise to the opening set victory. Kudermetova could not get anything going and committed 14 errors with the majority of them on her 2nd serve where she had an abysmal winning percentage.

The 2nd set featured a lot tougher battle as Kudermetova played much better in the set. She took an early break but lost in the very next game. Then she broke Halep once more to take a 3-2 lead but once again could not confirm it. At 4-3 for Halep the crucial game happened with both players having chances to win the game. Ultimately it was Simona who won the game that lasted well over 10 minutes to take the decisive lead. She would use her 3rd match point in the next game to win it 6-1 6-3 in just under an hour and a half.

A solid showing from Halep who proved more composed against a very nervous Kudermetova. The Russian had plenty of chances but failed to use them and Simona escaped with a relatively straightforward one.