U.S. Open Recap: Second-Seeded Halep Survives Early Scare to Advance on Day One

August 25, 2014 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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French Open runner-up Simona Halep and the fourth seeded Agnieszka Radwanska were a pair of first-round winners on opening day action at the 2014 U.S. Open. The second-seeded Romanian Halep came from behind to beat 20-year-old American Danielle Rose Collins 6-7(2-7), 6-1, 6-2, while Radwanska easily handled Canadian Sharon Fichman 6-1, 6-0 in a mere 47 minutes at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Halep struggled early, as the American Collins got the crowd behind her and played a great opening set. In the first set tie-breaker, Halep made multiple unforced errors, giving the set to Collins. Halep regrouped right away in the second set though as she cruised to a 6-1 win sending the match to a decisive third set. In the third set Halep broke at 1-1 and consolidated the break to go up 3-1. She broke again at 4-2 and served out the match. Halep's second-round opponent will be Slovak Jana Cepelova, a 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 winner over María-Teresa Torró-Flor on Monday.

"Today was a big challenge for me because I played the first match of the tournament on center court," Halep said. "It's not easy to manage that situation, and I started a little bit nervous, but I think after the first set did I very well. Also, she played really well. She was hitting the ball well and serving well. She will for sure have a good future."

Radwanska, in her first-ever WTA meeting with Fichman, dominated the match, as Fichman committed 24 unforced errors, while Radwanska will make her ninth consecutive appearance in the second round of the U.S. Open. Her second round opponent will be China's Shuai Peng, a 6-3, 6-3 winner Monday afternoon over fellow countrywoman, Jie Zheng. Radwanska holds a 3-1 head-to-head record over Peng in four career meetings, with the last meeting in the fourth round of the 2011 Australian Open, a 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 win for Radwanska.

Also on Monday, it was the sixth-seeded German left-hander Angelique Kerber who snuck past qualifier, Russia's Ksenia Pervak, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5. Kerber moves to 13-6 lifetime in Flushing Meadows, and will face Russian Alla Kudryavtseva in round two after the 36-year-old Kudryavtseva's 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 win Monday over China's Ying-Ying Duan.

In other action involving seeds, number 14 Czech Lucie Safarova handled Hungarian Timea Babos 6-4, 7-5, number 18 Andrea Petkovic of Germany got past Tunisian Ons Jabeur 7-6 (9-7), 1-6, 6-3 and the number 31 seed, Japan's Kurumi Nara, defeated Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak 6-2, 6-1.

Click here for full results of Day One of the 2014 U.S. Open.


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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