Eugenie Bouchard stepped into the sunlight vacated by Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova in this weird Wimbledon tournament by surviving a dramatic, fretful semi-final. She overcame the No3 seed Simona Halep and now takes on the 2011 champion Petra Kvitova in Saturday’s final.
The 20-year-old Canadian won 7-6, 6-2 in an hour and 20 minutes but might have sealed it a few minutes earlier but for a bizarre incident on her first match point, in the seventh game of the second set.
As Halep – wrapped up like an Egyptian mummy (left thigh beforehand, left ankle after going over at the end of the fourth game) – served to stay in the tournament at 1-5 and 15-40, a fan shouted out, distracting Bouchard, who pulled away. Halep went through with the serve and the umpire ignored the Canadian’s plea to replay the point.
“It was a little crazy, I’ve never ended a match like that,” Bouchard said, although there did not appear to be any animosity between her and the Romanian because of it. “I kept my focus.”
As for her first final, she said: “I’m just going to go for it. I’m probably going to have my toughest match yet. I’ve put in a lot of hard work and it’s been years in the making. I’ve had a lot of success but I always want more.
“It took a little bit of mental strength today, but I’m not going to give away my secrets. It’s tough work but it’s what I love. I think I can play even better than I played today. It’s cool I got to stay at Wimbledon for two whole weeks.”
Halep, who came to the semi-finals a little fresher, probably was the slight favourite but there was little between them until the second set.
When Halep turned her ankle at 2-2, and had to have it heavily strapped before resuming gingerly, she was there for the taking. But Bouchard either missed the obvious – moving her stricken opponent around the court at every opportunity – or found it tough to do against the hard, flat ground strokes of her opponent.
Either way, Halep came through the mishap because the Canadian hit too many balls into her forehand zone. By the time Halep was steady again on two feet, they were back on level terms. There was nothing in the match all the way to the end of the set.
Remarkably (or not, come to think of it), Halep was winning a higher percentage of points on her second serve than her first (61-52), but her shot selection and court management were stretching Bouchard across the baseline in nearly every exchange.
There was more drama midway through the tie-break – with Halep 3-2 up and about to serve – when a spectator collapsed and required medical attention. After she had been helped away from court, Halep saved a set point before Bouchard hit the winner on the hour.
The first proper break of the match went to Bouchard for 2-1 in the second when Halep struck her fourth double fault, and the contest shifted further her way after a regulation hold when the world No3 erred on her forehand.
When Bouchard netted a backhand to hand Halep break point, the match briefly bubbled back to life. Surely she could not blow it from here? She did not. A good serve on the backhand side was too good for Halep.
So she meets Kvitova after a tense examination against an excellent opponent with enough drama to fill a Shaftsbury Avenue playhouse.
