Two Romanian women tennis players have qualified on Monday to the next round of US Open. Irina Begu defeated Jennifer Brady (66th WTA) 6-3, 6-3 and will face Qiang Wang (52nd WTA) in the next round. Furthermore, Ana Bogdan (83rd WTA) has qualified, after defeating Marie Bouzkova (Czech Republic) 6-4, 6-2. Bogdan will face Karolina Pliskova, 8th seeded, in the second round.
However, Simona Halep, 1st WTA, was defeated on Monday by Kania Kanepi (4th WTA) 5-2, 6-4, in the first round of US Open.
“I never play my best tennis here, even if I’ve done quarterfinals, semi-finals,” she said after a 6-2, 6-4 loss to Kaia Kanepi. “I feel like my game is not at its best, at the best level. But always I fight for every match,” Halep said after the match, wtatennis.com informs.
“I was actually practicing okay yesterday and two days ago, but that’s it. It’s just a day, and it’s a bad day for me. She deserved to win because she was playing better than me today.”
The reigning Roland Garros champion endured a heartbreaking defeat in this very round last year in Flushing Meadows, falling to former No.1 Maria Sharapova in three tough sets. This summer had nonethless been promising after a title run at the Coupe Rogers and a runner-up finish at the Western & Southern Open.
“I was tired, but positive tired because I played so many matches in Montréal and Cincinnati. So I didn’t feel pressure of winning a Grand Slam, and feeling the pressure of ‘How is it gonna be now?’ No, I didn’t feel that.
“Today was not my day; the balance was not there. I couldn’t feel myself strong on the court to win this match,” Halep also said.