Maria Sharapova maintained her perfect winning streak versus Simona Halep on Tuesday night at the WTA Finals Singapore. The Russian closed the match 6-4, 6-4 against the Romanian and is now 6-0 in their head to head standings. The victory also placed Sharapova in first place of the Red Group Round Robin stage at the year-end championships. Sharapova won her first match against Agnieszka Radwanska on Sunday.
“I guess those are the moments you have to get through when you haven’t played in a long time, and against the No.2 player in the world these matches don’t come easy. It definitely showed until the end,” Sharapova said during the oncourt interview.
Sharapova led 6-4, 5-1 and was on course for an easy victory before Halep, the number one seed, blasted away and took the next three games to narrow the gap at 5-4 but in the end Sharapova broke serve to seal the victory.
Halep observed that Sharapova produced some of the best shots especially during the most crucial moments of the match.
“Even if she didn’t play for a long time, since Wimbledon, she knows how to play. She’s a champion. She has experience. And she’s always playing really well against me,” she said.
“But I think I did a good job today. I did everything I could. I was fighting until the end, and that’s what’s best for me. Again it was the same story – I was close but I couldn’t win. I have to accept it.
“But I will work harder. Now I’m more motivated that I have to learn things to beat her.”
The semifinalists on the Red Group will be determined on Thursday with Sharapova facing Pennetta and Halep playing against Radwanska.
