Simona survives Linette scare to reach third round

 

Simona won a ninth straight match at the French Open on Thursday, surviving Magda Linette, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 to reach the third round.

 

The defending champion had been pushed to three sets to start her 2019 campaign against Ajla Tomljanovic earlier in the week, and overcame a mid-match hiccup – after holding three match points – to advance once more after two hours and 11 minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

 

“This match was different, because I was up and I had match points,” Halep explained after the match. “So I had the confidence to win the match. I knew that I’m able to win it. So in the third set, I said that I have to stay calm, to still playing what I played also, both sets, doesn’t matter — didn’t matter that I lost the second one.

“I just tried to open the court more, because from closer to the body, she played really, really good. I tried also to play with the first serve more. I think mentally I was stronger and I could win this match.”

 

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Photo credit: @Jimmie48photography