Romania’s Simona Halep continued her strong form this season after edging out Eugenie Bouchard of Canada and reaching the BNP Paribas Open 2014 Indian Wells quarterfinals on Tuesday. It wasn’t an easy task for Halep as she had to come from behind in the third set while trailing 3-4. She would go on to win the points in just the right time for a 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 victory.
“I knew she’s a great player and playing really well, so I just tried to do my game, play aggressive and play fast,” Halep said. “It wasn’t my best tennis today, but I was fighting a lot. I did well. I think I came back in the third set really well. I did everything I could do during the match today.
“She’s improving tournament by tournament so I’m really happy that I won this match.”
“She was very, very solid,” Bouchard said. “I expected a good player, but I think she has a really good defense – that’s a weapon of hers. It really puts pressure on her opponents to finish the point. She has a lot of experience too – she’s won a lot of titles and has been there in that third set battling.
“She was a break down and came up with some great tennis. She played very well.”
This is Halep’s first career quarterfinal in a Premier Mandatory event. Up next for the Romanian is Australian qualifier Casey Dellacqua who advanced to the quarterfinal after American Lauren Davis withdrew prior to the match due to gastrointestinal illness.
