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Simona Halep of Romania plays a forehand in her Ladies’ Singles first round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus during Day one of The Championships – Wimbledon 2019 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 01, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
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Simona Halep of Romania plays a forehand in her Ladies’ Singles first round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus during Day one of The Championships – Wimbledon 2019 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 01, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
The Australian Open 2021 is just a week away, and before that, the WTA has planned quite a few tournaments for the players. One of them is the WTA 500 Melbourne 2, which is going on at the moment. World No. 2 Simona Halep got off to a great start at the tournament as she defeated Anastasia Potapova in straight sets in the first round. The final scoreline of the match was 6-4, 6-4.
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This was the perfect beginning for Simona Halep. First, she defeated World No. 1, Ashleigh Barty, in an exhibition in Adelaide, and now she won her first match at the WTA Melbourne 2. In the post-match interview, she spoke about whether she found the courts a little faster in Melbourne.
“Yeah, it’s a little bit faster, I felt it,” began Halep. “But all this stuff against big hitters, so all the courts feel like faster when you play against them. But it was a nice atmosphere.”
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Simona Halep of Romania reacts during her Women’s Singles fourth round match against Iga Swiatek of Poland on day eight of the 2020 French Open at Roland Garros on October 04, 2020, in Paris, France. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Experts have recently claimed that the courts are a little faster this year in Melbourne. Halep clearly felt the same in her first match in Melbourne and said as much in the interview.
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“It’s nice to see some people back”- Simona Halep
Although Melbourne 2 is not a big tournament, there were still a lot of fans present to support the World No. 2 player during her match. Halep thanked them all for coming and admitted that she had missed the crowd last year.
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Simona Halep of Romania celebrates match point against Bianca Andreescu of Canada during their Women’s Singles match on Day Two of the 2019 Shiseido WTA Finals at Shenzhen Bay Sports Center on October 28, 2019, in Shenzhen, China. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
“It’s really nice to see people cheering for us. So, thank you, everyone, for coming. I missed the crowd last year and it’s nice to see some people back,” added the 2-time Grand Slam winner.
Fans will surely be a big advantage for Halep, and she’ll be quite happy with the management’s recent announcement of allowing around 30,000 spectators each day during the upcoming Grand Slam.
After this, Halep will move to the Australian Open 2021 where she’ll start as the second-seeded player. Will Halep be able to win her maiden Australian Open title in Melbourne this year?
Also Read: Simona Halep sends out an ominous message to rivals ahead of the Australian Open 2021
