Before each day's play begins in Paris, we'll preview three must-see matches that you'll find on Tennis Channel Plus. Tennis Channel Plus features up to 10 courts of live action from Roland Garros beginning Sunday, May 27 at 5:00am ET. Catch up and watch all your favorite stars anytime, on-demand, with Tennis Channel Plus.
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SIMONA HALEP [1] VS. GARBINE MUGURUZA [3]
Despite playing their quarterfinals 24 hours later than Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens, Muguruza and Halep will go first on Thursday. If that has an effect on anyone, it’s probably going to be Halep, who played one more set, and one more hour, of tennis than Muguruza on Wednesday.
Even if both women are at full strength, though, the Spaniard would seem to be a slight favorite. She has rolled through the draw without dropping a set. She’s coming off a career-highlight 6-2, 6-1 win over Maria Sharapova, a woman she had never beaten before, and she has a 3-1 record against Halep. Muguruza has been in the zone, and if she can stay there, no one is likely beat her.
But she’s still only a slight favorite over Halep. The Romanian won their only meeting on clay, in three sets, in 2015. She bounced back from early adversity against Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals, which should help her if she has a slow start against Muguruza. And Halep plays a different game from Muguruza’s last two opponents, Sharapova and Sam Stosur. Muguruza can’t expect, as she did in the quarterfinals, that her well-hit shots won’t be coming back, and won’t be coming back over and over again. Still, Muguruza appears up to the challenge of making those extra putaway balls. Winner: MuguruzaThe tennis gods have done Keys, and the rest of us who are interested in these two young Americans, a favor: They’ve given her a second shot at Stephens in a late-round Grand Slam match, less than a year after Keys made a hash of their 2017 US Open final.
The question now becomes: was that match, which Stephens won in a hailstorm of unforced errors by Keys, just the product of an anxiety attack by a Slam-final rookie? Or is there something about Stephens’ game that will always trouble Keys? Stephens also won their only other meeting, in Miami in 2015, in straight sets. Stephens poses a challenge for the heavy-hitting but inconsistent Keys because she’s faster and steadier, and she can also punch back with her own pace. As far as their current form goes, both women are peaking at the right time; Keys hasn’t dropped a set, while Stephens lost just six games in total against two quality opponents, Anett Kontaveit and Daria Kasatkina, in her last two matches.
Keys will surely be determined to make the world forget her brain cramp at Flushing Meadows. And I don’t think that Sloane will always have her number, especially on other surfaces. But on clay, with Stephens in the form she’s in right now, I’ll think she’ll have her number again on Thursday. Winner: StephensThe top half of the draw has delivered in terms of seeding with Simona Halep playing Garbine Muguruza for a spot in the final. It would be Halep’s third French Open final while Muguruza is looking for a second title having won two years ago. This match will also double up as a showdown for the World No.1 ranking with the winner taking the top spot on Monday. To the Spaniard, it isn’t too big a deal for her having been there before. “I mean, [the No.1 ranking] not that important, because it’s constantly this thing going on, I don’t know, since last year,” she said. “So I give less importance to that.”
Watch the Halep vs Muguruza Live Stream Here.
Muguruza was stunning in victory on Wednesday, thrashing Maria Sharapova 6-2 6-1 in 1hr13m. She dismantled the Russian’s serve with 7 breaks in total including on all four occasions in the second set. She had previously been 0-3 against Sharapova but both players are on a different level from their meetings back in 2013 and 2014. “I felt like I was a more developed player [since the last match]. And I was very motivated out there — it’s a Grand Slam quarterfinals. I think I did a good performance today, very serious, solid match. I’m happy with that.”
Halep edged out Angelique Kerber in three sets to book her place in the final four. “After losing that [first] set, when I came back, it was a little bit tough, but I stayed there. I stayed focused. I never gave up. So I think that’s why I won today. My head won it.” she said of the match. She had come into the tournament as one of the two favourites as No.1 seed and has mostly lived up to that reputation throughout the fortnight so far. She has not been put off by two heartbreaking finals losses and is sure to go into the final expected to win whether it is Madison Keys or Sloane Stephens on the opposite side of the court.
Muguruza has continually shown a higher level of tennis when it comes to the slams and has an 84% winning record in them since her French Open win 2 years ago. She dropped just one game in a victory over Halep last year to take the Cincinnati title, one of her three wins against the Romanian.
