Simona Halep opened the door for a big upset at the Miami Open Wednesday afternoon. Tenth seeded Johanna Konta worked through a tough opening set followed by a thriller in the second to win 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-2 at Crandon Park Tennis Center. The upset gave the Brit her first semifinal in the tournament in a finish with momentum going her way.
The series was tied between the two making it the first meeting in two years where the Brit leveled the playing field. Konta’s victory in Wuhan was her first official win against Halep giving her an edge despite losing a Fed Cup match to the Romanian. Both made a push in the tournament since their third round loss at Indian Wells. While they have the need for improvements to their game, the match that pitted the two together allows them to bring their best in the second half run to the title.
Halep gained the opening break in the fourth that gave her a solid 3-1 lead on Konta. She faced some adversity in the fifth with Konta wanting to get back into a pace. The Romanian brought together some defense on deuce in the fifth to win the hold and go up three games. The Brit earned another hold of serve in the sixth but the gap between her and Halep was still a battle to overcome. The number three seed got out of trouble in the seventh turning the advantage to her name before winning it on a deep serve that finished on a forehand error.
A last chance to extend the set came to the hands of Konta who attempted to keep her fight alive. A double fault hurt the tenth seed but her save on the break and set point forced deuce. Her strength on the backhanded rewarded her with another hold and victory against Halep but the possession would surely work against her in the ninth. The Romanian made her intentions clear, blasting away at Konta for three set points which she captured on a winner completing 40 minutes of play. Despite having a low first serve percentage, Halep’s win of points on both sides of the game was too much for her opponent to handle.
Konta knew that something had to get going in the second set with an increasing of battling in the rallies. After pulling off a tough opening serve, she drew together a successful triple break to gain her first lead in the match. She made it a stunning 3-0 run that left some thinking if it would turn into a lopsided match. Halep woke up from her spell fighting for a victory on deuce to get into action. The thought seemed to run through the Brit’s mind as she committed a double fault in the fifth hoping to let that be the last slip up. It wasn’t as it opened the door for the Romanian to take over and pull off another game.
She leveled the playing field in the sixth carrying so much confidence that it was stacking the pressure on Konta to counteract the problems that occurred from blowing three games. The notion gave her energy to play well on serve and be back in the lead. She did exactly that in the seventh sending Halep to call for coach Darren Cahill to come out for a talk. She received a positive chat with him telling her to play one point at a time.
Game Eight was certainly that as Konta brought in the drop shots that were a challenge for Halep to return on. She got to deuce but had trouble picking up the advantage. The chances were there but being accurate seemed difficult with Konta on the attack. A great chance came to get it done firing one down the line away from the Brit to level at four all.
The Romanian got the chance to serve for the match awarding herself another break that came on the struggles of Konta’s double faults. A tense start gave Halep a double fault on serve but saved it to get on the board with a forehand return error. She delivered a slice that across court but saw Konta level back on the next point with a drop shot redirect. Halep saved a chance to serve on deuce but Konta was showing tremendous adversity. Both gave the other a window to dictate the remainder of the game but a mistake from the number three seed forced extra games making it the second tiebreaker for the two.
Konta was the first to set the bar but she didn’t expect Halep to have a full love service to send things to the deciding factor. The tenth seed was first to fire off a shot that she double faulted giving her opponent the lead. She answered back with a winner down the line that erased the mistake from her head. She and Halep both awarded points on double faults that saw them at three all.
Things got very interesting with Konta finding a chance to win the set with a lead. Halep shut it down on the 12th point making it a two point game for one of them to win. The Brit pulled Halep off the court to use her composure and win on the backhand. A long ball opened the door for the world number five making it a tense moment on court. Konta gained the lead again knowing that it was going to take a lot for her to get set point. With the rally in play, the Brit redirected the ball numerous times till a moment came where the Romanian couldn’t keep up with it any longer. It sent things to the distance making it more work for a conclusion to arrive.
The third began as a fight where pulling out all the stops was going to spell out how the set went along. The two stayed tight through four games but a big force in Konta’s game allowed her to gain a step on the Romanian. It continued to go that way for the Brit who was on a span of victories that set her up easily for chance at pulling off an upset. She reached 5-2 with the ball in hand for the match edging Halep for the point. It was brought to a close with another long ball error from the world number five that went 2 hours and 30 minutes.
“I couldn’t afford to think too far ahead or too far behind or what could be,” Konta said to Andrew Krasny after the match. “I had things together in the second set being up 3-0 and a chance for a fourth but she’s an incredible player and has been at the top of her game for some time.”
She’ll await the winner of the final quarterfinal match that pits world number one Angelique Kerber and American Venus Williams on Friday.
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