The winners & ue stats in no way reflect the quality of this match. Similar styles of the two players mean a lot of good rallies end in an error

Well that was a random gift of a game from Halep which keeps it alive just as Hev was looking beaten

loses 6-2 in the third

some good signs

but it really dont look to me as though shes well again yet and GF can be that way as tennis well knows with the likes of soderling mchale and our hev

wish the very best for her

Gutted for Hev, I suspect a confident Hev would won that as Halep was there for the taking. She just needs to 100% get over this dreaded GF, find a bit of confidence and she'll be back in the top 50 by the end of next year. She really has been unlucky with her draws here.

I didn't see the match, but I'm delighted that Heather played in an aggressive manner, which put Halep under tremendous pressure. A win in 2 sets looked very much a possibility, but once it went to a third match fitness and match sharpness meant that there could only ever have been one winner.

Glad to say that Phil was quite right that Simona did suffer a reaction to her exploits over the last 3 months (4 WTA titles on 3 surfaces isn't bad!), but her fighting spirit kept her in it long enough to eventually break Heather.

Not sure it will happen this year, but I'm rooting for Halep to go deep in the tournament and break into the top 12-15 next: QF or even SF.

I hope Heather reflects and takes the positives from this match - she only needed to have looked across the net to see what the future could look like in 12 months time.

 

They warm up. Umpire calls 'time'. And then play suspended - Rain !!!!!!!  

Actually I think it was lightening flashes rather than the wet stuff, yet !!

-- Edited by Julia Carrot on Wednesday 28th of August 2013 05:04:52 PM

Argh what a chance!

Firstly the good:

Much better aggression on the groundstrokes, looking to stretch Halep and keep her off balance. Matched and bettered Halep for much of the match from the back of the court.
Brilliant net play in the first half of the match - moving forward, attacking short balls etc. Something Heather will really need to keep doing IMO to climb up the rankings as she showed just how dangerous an aggressive all court game can be. The commentator (forgotten who, sorry) mentioned Heather is working on this more which is great and long overdue!
The fight - she kept her cool when she was broken back at 5-3 in the first and broke back immediately in the second set to keep competitive.

The bad:
Fitness / confidence not quite there yet, but it will come. I think Heather was almost shocked into crumbling - I dont think she really believed she was going to win until 4-4 on the second and then she was like a deer in headlights.

Heather needs to look at the likes of Halep, Errani, Cirstea, Vesnina, Pennetta, Kirilenko - theyve all been top 21 or considerably higher with similar games. Also worth noting that most are very accomplished doubles players and apply their confidence at net into their singles which is very unsettling for opponents and very difficult to combat when executed well.

I have no concerns for Heather though, she knows exactly what she needs to do and is showing she is capable of doing it. She will start climbing back up the rankings in no time.