WTA Roland Garros: Simona Halep edges Linette. Bolsova and Siniakova win
The defending champion and the 3rd seed Simona Halep had to battle through another round at Roland Garros, beating Magda Linette 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in two hours and 11 minutes. With 27 winners and 44 unforced errors, Simona was far from her best just like in the opening match here in Paris but she found the way to bring the encounter home, suffering six breaks and scoring eight on the other side to cross the finish line first. The Pole gave everything to stay in touch with last year's winner, performing an outstanding comeback in the second set before losing ground in the decider when she couldn't control her strokes as in the opening two sets. They needed 50 minutes to wrap up ten games in the opening set, with Simona who forged a 5-2 lead before sealing it with a hold at 5-4. Everything looked good for the Romanian following an early break in set number two, jumping into a 5-3 lead and creating a match point on the return in the next game.
Two more match points on own serve in game ten were not enough for Simona and Linette broke her both in that game and at 6-5 to rattle off four straight games and steal the set in front of a great rival to force the decider. There, Halep started from the beginning and her return game was back, breaking Magda on four occasions to move over the top and enter the last 32 for the fifth time in the previous six years. The 20-year-old Russian Anna Blinkova is through to the third round at Majors for the first time, breaking hearts of the French crowd following a 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over the 24th seed Caroline Garcia in an hour and 53 minutes. Garcia had the match in her hands for a set and a half, dictating the pace and never experiencing problems in set number two before the eighth game of the second set.
Out of sudden, Blinkova delivered two breaks to claim the set 6-4 and gain the momentum that didn't last for long, allowing Caroline to forge a 3-0 lead in the decider. Fending off four break points in game five, the Russian bounced back completely, taking five of the last six games to move over the finish line and complete an impressive comeback and stay in the competition. A qualifier Aliona Bolsova has made the best possible debut in Paris, overpowering Sorana Cirstea 7-6, 7-6 in an hour and 38 minutes for the best result at Grand Slams. Sorana converted four out of eight break points and she saved only one out of five chances offered to the Spaniard, coming back from a 5-2 down in the first set before losing the tie break 7-5.
After trading breaks in games seven and eight in set number two, Aliona proved to be stronger in the tie break to seal the deal in straight sets and book the clash against Ekaterina Alexandrova. After three hours and ten minutes, Katerina Siniakova secured the spot in the third round for the second consecutive year, prevailing against the 29th seed Maria Sakkari 7-6, 6-7, 6-3. Siniakova broke the Greek six times, reducing the deficit in service games to six breaks and saving her best tennis for the decider to survive a stern test and send the seeded player packing. Maria led 5-1 in the opening set before wasting a massive lead, squandering a set point at 6-5 and losing the tie break 7-5. She saved two match points in the closing stages of the second set, converting the fourth set point in the crazy tie break to grab it 10-8 and stay in the match until Siniakova broke her thrice in the decider to move throw.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2XfzZPK
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