After making it to her first final this year on the WTA tour, former world no.1 Simona Halep ended up being the second best in a championship match dominated by the Estonian player Anett Kontaveit at the Transylvania Open 2021.
Ahead of today’s final, the duo met each other thrice on the WTA tour, with all of them won by the Romanian. Add to the fact that Halep was playing a home-event and was a favorite to win the title.
But, Kontaveit has been exceptional post Cincinnati this year as she managed to clinch four titles(including Cluj-Napoca today) and made a grand entry into the WTA Finals in Guadalajara.
Initially, it was Ons Jabeur who was leading the race to the year-end championships but the Estonian ran past her with a title in Romania.
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Simona Halep congratulates Anett Kontaveit on making to the WTA Finals in Guadalajara
Coming to Halep, it would’ve been incredible for the former world no.1 to be back in a final and play to her potential. The Romanian was all praise for Anett Kontaveit and congratulated her on making it to the WTA Finals.
“Anett, you crushed me, good luck in the WTA finals, you deserve to be there, you had an amazing year. Enjoy, it’s very special there. I’m sad I couldn’t win, but Anett was too good today. Next year I will be here again!”, Halep said.
Simona Halep: "Anett, you crushed me, good luck in the WTA finals, you deserve to be there, you had an amazing year. Enjoy, it's very special there!
I'm sad I couldn't win, but Anett was too good today. Next year I will be here again!"#TO2021 pic.twitter.com/4K8c4IjEQ9
— Transylvania Open (@TransylvaniaOpn) October 31, 2021
At the start of the tournament, every one was anticipating a contest between Simona Halep and the rising British teenager Emma Raducanu. Even though Raducanu won the first two matches, the Brit was overpowered in the quarter-finals by Marta Kostyuk.
Kontaveit won four WTA titles in a span of two months
Coming to Kontaveit, she was not in the WTA race till August but she sprung up a huge surprise by winning four titles to fix her spot in the marquee event to be held in Mexico.
An incredible run to the title at the WTA Ostrava Open witnessed the Estonian defeat the likes of Belinda Bencic, Petra Kvitova, and Maria Sakkari. This magnificent run would’ve given her the necessary confidence to make it to the last eight for Guadalajara.
On the other hand, Simona Halep, who missed a fair share of tournaments this year might look to bag as many matches as possible before the start of the 2022 WTA season.
Also read: “Never Said I Would Stop Playing”: Simona Halep Reacts to Retirement Rumors
The post “You Crushed Me”: Simona Halep Lauds Anett Kontaveit on ‘Huge Achievement’ After Losing Hometown Event appeared first on EssentiallySports.
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