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 The Romanian top seed will be favourite to overcome Karolina
Pliskova in Saturday’s Aviation Club final after the Czech baseliner
subdued Spaniard Garbine Muguruza 6-4 5-7 7-5 in the other semi.
“Day by day, I’ve played better – I tried to be aggressive, I’m
playing good tennis, I’m feeling relaxed,” Halep said in a courtside
interview.
Halep, wearing a mauve skirt and purple vest, struggled to find her
range in the opening exchanges as she surrendered the first set with
a double fault.
But the Romanian, who feels she now has the big game experience to
win grand slams following a breakthrough 2014, began the second set
re-energised.
 She broke Wozniacki immediately, taking advantage of a short second
serve to slug a forehand crosscourt winner.
Halep's finesse, power and speed over the court allowed her to level
the match as Wozniacki, suffering from illness and a troublesome
knee, wilted under pressure.
The Romanian ended up claiming 12 of the last 14 games as she
secured a place in the final.
"The first set I was playing pretty decent," two-time U.S. Open
finalist Wozniacki told reporters. "But start of the second I made a
few stupid mistakes on important points."
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In the other semi-final, Pliskova proved too consistent for
Muguruza, who veered between brilliant and bewildering.
Tough playing conditions could explain some of the world number 24’s
difficulties - temperatures were in the mid-30s Celsius as a sand
storm engulfed Dubai and drew a phalanx of helpers to sweep the
court beforehand.
But Muguruza was often wild in her serving and too aggressive on
return, allowing Pliskova to keep the ball in play and wait for the
Spaniard to blunder.
(Reporting by Matt Smith, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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