Tennis

Bianca Andreescu v Simona Halep: WTA Finals 2019 – live!


2.21pm GMT

Second set: Andreescu 6-3 6-5* Halep: An easy hold for Andreescu to pile the pressure back on the Romanian. She closed it off so impressively: she absolutely crushed a crosscourt forehand winner, then landed a delicate forehand dropshot as Halep braced herself far behind the baseline for another violent body blow, then closed with an unreturned first serve.

2.18pm GMT

Second set: Andreescu 6-3 *5-5 Halep: Halep gets herself back on track at just the right time. Some great depth from Halep, who painted the baseline a couple of times and forced errors out of Andreescu. This is very tight.

2.14pm GMT

Second set: Andreescu 6-3 5-4* Halep: Andreescu edges ahead and the Romanian will now serve to stay in the match. Wasteful from Halep, who twice had an easy short forehand to finish the point. She dumped the first into the net, then went straight back at Andreescu on the second, who rolled a backhand passing shot past her. Some solid serving from Andreescu and she is a game away.

2.11pm GMT

@Bandreescu_ pulling out the tweener#WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/xrsP060lwV

2.09pm GMT

Andreescu breaks back for 6-3, 4-4. She’s getting a small bleeding cut on her leg attended to in an MTO. So Halep gets a coaching visit from Darren Cahill in the meantime.

Cahill: Don’t get down on yourself.

Halep: I’m not. I missed like a 100 times.

2.08pm GMT

Second set: Andreescu 6-3 *4-4 Halep: Andreescu has a tendency to whack her shin with her racquet, and she has now drawn blood. But on-court, it was actually Halep who was bleeding errors in that game. Despite Cahill imploring her to attack her second serve ,it’s sitting up a little too much and Andreescu is taking advantage.

Medical timeout for Andreescu to address her shin. Cahill is back on: “Stay in there mentally and don’t get down on yourself.”

2.03pm GMT

Second set: Andreescu 6-3 3-4* Halep: Andreescu pieces together a nice regulation hold, but a winning tweener at 30-0 stole the show. Rather than a bit of showboating, it seemed like Andreescu got a little tangled up, but when your hands are that good you can adjust.

Coach Darren Cahill is on court for Halep. He’s very happy with her getting Andreescu on the move and opening up the court. He tells her to keep on trying to push the Canadian back with her second serve. We’ll see if she can.

1.59pm GMT

Second set: Andreescu 6-3 *2-4 Halep: This time, Simona Halep consolidates her break with a hold but that was tough. Halep moved up 40-0 and seemed to be coasting, but then Andreescu pieced together three great points, winning two long exchanges and snapping one great forehand return.

But once again it’s Halep’s serve that keeps her out of trouble. Two unreturned first serves from deuce givers the Romanian a hold.

1.55pm GMT

Slick.

@Simona_Halep on the line!#WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/0r9WRa3yqx

1.53pm GMT

Second set: Andreescu 6-3 2-3* Halep: Simona Halep’s tenaciousness has been impressive so far in set two. She is not controlling a lot of the play out here, but she continues to land returns deep, keep her consistent level and force Andreescu to put the ball past her frequently. She couldn’t this time, hitting three unforced errors for Halep to move up a break once more.

1.49pm GMT

Second set: Andreescu 6-3 *2-2 Halep: Andreescu’s weakness may be her concentration, but she is also so good at bouncing back. She gets the break back immediately. A slick angled drop volley at 0-30 from Andreescu, then she broke back with a stinging forehand crosscourt return.

1.45pm GMT

Second set: Andreescu 6-3 1-2* Halep: Andreescu’s one weakness this year has been her tendency to lose concentration and go off the boil a little during matches. A series of errors from Andreescu, including a double fault at 15-30, and a solid Simona Halep is up a break in set two.

1.42pm GMT

Second set: Andreescu 6-3 *1-1 Halep: You won’t see another service game like that from Simona Halep for a long, long time. The diminutive Romanian just held with two straight aces. She will take that every day of the week.

1.40pm GMT

Second set: Andreescu 6-3 1-0* Halep: Absolutely no let-up from Andreescu to start the second set. Halep spent a lot of time trying to break down the Canadian’s backhand, but Andreescu is so good at throwing in a loopy ball or a slice and finding a big forehand again. Let’s see if she can sustain this level.

1.35pm GMT

First set: Andreescu 6-3 Halep: That was quite an incredible set of tennis from Bianca Andreescu, who was absolutely dominant aside from one two-game stretch of excellence from the Romanian. Andreescu has dominated the exchanges, both by being the aggressor and constantly changing the pace. She’s throwing in loopy high balls, drop shots, you name it. Halep isn’t playing badly at all but she hasn’t been able to stay with the Canadian.

1.30pm GMT

First set: Andreescu 5-3* Halep: Andreescu throws down another love hold, this time sealed with an ace. Cahill suggested taking on her backhand down the line and going after the early balls a little more, but it’s so tough when Andreescu is putting her under this much pressure.

1.28pm GMT

Meanwhile, Coach Darren Cahill is back on-court with Halep. He was due to officially join her team again in the new season after taking a break this year, but clearly they just couldn’t wait.

He’s back! #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/yZT97JHyJg

1.26pm GMT

First set: Andreescu *4-3 Halep: The one constant so far has been Andreescu relentlessly attacking the Halep second serve. But after wasting two more break points, Andreescu mixes in a few slices and forces an error to break again.

1.20pm GMT

First set: Andreescu 3-3* Halep: No problems for Andreescu after losing two games in a row. She absolutely crushed a few forehands, landed some first serves and held to love.

1.17pm GMT

First set: Andreescu *2-3 Halep: Both women are starting to thrive now and the rallies are tough. Andreescu absolutely obliterated a couple of Halep’s serves to bring up 0-40, then Halep erased the danger with some quality counterpunching. Incredible work from Halep at deuce – she soaked up a series of big forehands, retrieved an Andreescu overhead and then immediately flipped the point, finishing with a forehand winner.

1.13pm GMT

First set: Andreescu 2-2* Halep: Well, it appears that Simona Halep has arrived. Some tough rallies end with Halep passing Andreescu at the net twice. First she easily retrieved an Andreescu dropshot, then held her ground and redirected a big Andreescu forehand past the Canadian at the net. High quality stuff.

1.06pm GMT

First set: Andreescu *2-1 Halep: Andreescu snatches the first break and she is already looking so sharp. Unsurprisingly, it’s the Canadian who is controlling most of these points early on and dictating the pace of the rallies. She hits a brilliant winning dropshot and then crushed a great inside-out forehand winner at 30-30. Halep isn’t dealing with her weight of shot well so far.

1.01pm GMT

First set: Andreescu 1-1* Halep: Andreescu levels up immediately, holding to 15. A couple of huge forehands from Andreescu, who is already serving big.

12.59pm GMT

First set: Andreescu *0-1 Halep: As expected, Andreescu us already showing off her variety. She opened the match by narrowly missing a volley the net, then slipped in a slick drop shot winner. Despite being pushed to deuce, Halep rallies out a deuce game to get her first hold.

12.56pm GMT

How will this match be won?

Good question. The most striking part of Andreescu’s rise has been her style of play. She already possesses one of the biggest forehands in the world, she moves well, she returns extremely well and she can be really aggressive. But it’s her variety that has really set her apart she’ll throw in dropshots, loopy balls, net forays and she’ll try to break Halep’s rhythm

12.54pm GMT

If Andreescu’s surname didn’t make it clear, the most notable aspect of this match-up is that Andreescu’s parents are Romanian. She spent some of her youth in Romania, speaks the language and proudly represents both parts of her heritage. Naturally, she considers Halep her idol.

When Andreescu was younger, she spoke with Halep in Romanian, who gave her some advice that she has never forgotten. It is a conversation that Halep has had to recount many times this year:

“Yeah, I just told her that she has to stop juniors because she’s strong enough to make the step,” said Halep

“It’s amazing what she has done. To win a Grand Slam at 19, play few tournaments and win them, it’s a great, great job. I just want to tell her that she deserved because she played really well these tournaments.”

12.43pm GMT

Hello! Welcome to our coverage on day two of the WTA Finals in Shenzhen. The best eight players in 2019 will be battling throughout the week, and there are few better prospects than this upcoming battle between Bianca Andreescu and Simona Halep.

No 4 Andreescu has been the sensation at the top of the game in 2019, breaking through in March with her title at Indian Wells as a wildcard, then stamping her spot at the top of the game when Angelique Keber infamously called her “the biggest drama queen ever”. After struggling with a bad shoulder injury, she only played one match the following four months. Upon her return, she immediately win the Rogers Cup at home in Canada before winning her first grand slam title at the US Open. Her win-loss record is an astounding 48-5.

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