Kerber outplays Halep

In a match that was far trickier than the scoreline would indicate, the World No.1 just squeezed the court and played her perfect brand of tennis to minimize her own errors while really going for it when she could. Halep was off-balance throughout the match, and though the Romanian found patches of top-class play, she just couldn’t maintain consistency. 

With the win, Kerber could finally get out of the group stage and advance to the semi-final stage for the first time.There really wasn’t much separating them in that first set but it’s Kerber who takes the opener, as she serves it out at 30. That will a frustrating loss of set for Halep, who at one point tallied eight points in a row to get herself back into it from a break down. But the difference, aside from a few key errors:

In the second set, Halep ran Kerber close until she caught up with her at 3-3 and 4-4 and then Kerber broke her opponent. 

It was not for nothing that Kerber had won 60 matches this year. She just grinds and grinds and grinds and forces the other player to come up with the goods. Halep blinked with just a few more errors and Kerber served for the match.