Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens has defeated Monica Niculescu in a spectacular display of tennis this evening.
The opening game of the match showed a stunning exhibition of slicing and quick hands from Romania’s Niculescu. The 2012 tournament doubles champion came out in flying form, advancing to the net and mixing up the play to get an early break against her Belgian opponent who turns 27 today.
“The first set was really tough she just played a really tough game with the forehand slices, coming to the net when I didn’t expect it. I started, in the second set, playing more aggressive because that was the only chance for me to win this match today,” the Belgian said post-match.
Flipkens, who won her first WTA tournament last year at the Bell Challenge in Quebec, raced to a promising 0-40 lead in the second game before the Romanian kicked back into gear, slicing the ball wide and advancing to the net with magnificent timing to wipe her opponent off the court.
The Belgian has so far had an impressive tournament, defeating former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in the first round and progressing to win against Serbia’s Bojana Jovanovski.
Niculescu was unstoppable, switching between a powerful forehand and her trademark slice. The Belgian struggled to find her rhythm, dangerously attempting to play the Romanian at her own game by matching her spin for spin.
The world No.54 catapulted to a 5-0 lead with expertly placed passing-shots and impeccable movement. It looked as though the first may be a golden set when Flipkens dug her heels in, breaking back and throwing up her arms up in victory to make the scoreboard. Despite Flipkens holding serve, the right-handed Romanian sliced her way to a first set triumph 6-2 in 39 minutes.
The second set saw a battle of the slices with Flipkens growing in confidence to hold serve in the first game. She continued in solid form with the shot of the tournament, a superb in-betweener that flew over the net forcing an error from her rival and sparking an enthusiastic applause from the audience.
Flipkens advanced forcefully to drastically change the momentum, breaking the Romanian and taking the score to 3-1. She held serve, surging ahead with cross court forehands to off-foot her 25-year old opponent and paving her way to break back and win the set 6-4.
The Belgian was in full-swing in the third, bursting out of the blocks to a 5-0 lead against the frustrated Romanian. The Belgian was ruthless in her advance, overcoming Niculescu with an impressive flare to achieve the golden set 6-0 and book a place in the semi-final against 2012 champion Mona Barthel.
“Mona is a really tough player. She is a great player and a great champion. It will be a tough game that’s for sure,” she added.
By Rosie Jones.