WHAT HAPPENED: Playing a lucky loser at a major is never an easy task. Not only do they play with the confidence of having nothing to lose, but they enter the main draw with a few qualifying round wins under their belt, making them a threat to any player. That’s just the situation No. 12 seed Simona Halep faced in her second-round match against Kristina Kucova of Slovakia.
But as a veteran with two Grand Slam titles to her name, Halep handled the situation comfortably to take a 6-3, 6-1 win and book a spot in the third round of the 2021 US Open for the first time in five years.
For 31-year-old Kucova, it may have been an overwhelming occasion considering it was her first appearance in Arthur Ashe Stadium. The 2007 US Open girls’ singles champion, Kucova has tasted success at Flushing Meadows before, but never on tennis' biggest stage. When the match was moved from Court 17 at the last minute after Olga Danilovic withdrew just before her scheduled contest with Naomi Osaka, there was no time for a pre-match warmup in Ashe. No doubt, taking in that kind of atmosphere for the first time requires some adjusting.
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The win is a welcome one for Halep, whose injury-marred summer prevented her from making it past the second round of a tournament since her third-round showing in Madrid in May.
“I feel better now, I have to admit I'm more confident,” Halep said of her performance entering the US Open. “I didn't play for five or six months because of injuries, so it’s always tough to enter the first few matches of a Grand Slam.”
Halep got going early with an opening break to kick off a 3-1 lead, but Kucova, wielding a rare two-handed forehand, earned a break of her own to level the set at 3-3. The Slovakian fought hard to stay in the set, but it wasn’t enough to catch up to Halep, who closed the set and reeled off nine of the last 10 games of the match to pull away with the win.
WHAT IT MEANS: Halep’s win got the proverbial monkey off her back, having not made it past the second round at the US Open in her last three attempts. She made early exits from the draw in the first round in 2017 and in 2018 (as No. 1 seed), then fell in the second round in 2019. She did not play in 2020.
The Romanian aims to recapture the success of her 2015 US Open, when she reached a career-best semifinal appearance here. But first she must face the winner of the match between Caroline Garcia and No. 19 seed Elena Rybakina. Halep owns a 7-1 head-to-head record over Garcia, and is 1-1 against Rybakina.
MATCH POINT: Halep had a little bit more of a match on her hands than the scoreline indicates. Kucova kept the games tight and managed to reach four break points on Halep’s serve (she only capitalized on one), but the Romanian was just too good on Day 3, playing an all-court game that held Kucova to only 37 points won in the match.
