Halep, Meusburger in Budapest tennis final

No. 3 seed Simona Halep defeated fellow Romanian Alexandra Cadantu 6-2, 7-6(1) in the semifinal of the USD 235,000 Hungarian Grand Prix WTA International women's tennis tournament at the Romai Tennis Academy Saturday.

It looked an easy victory for Halep as she won the first set in just 27 minutes. However, Cadantu broke Halep’s serve right at the start of the second and then forced a tie-break. There, Halep again successfully applied some ‘just-inside-the-line’ shots to win the match.

“I played very well in the first set. She came back in the second. It turned out to be a good idea to move her between the sides as she returns balls very strong from the middle. I played every point with confidence and that brought me victory. I hope to enjoy the final and do my best there,” Halep said.

She set up a final match with Yvonne Meusburger of Austria who beat No. 6 seed South African Chanelle Scheepers 6-2, 6-2. Meusburger, 112th in the world rankings, played from the baseline while the South-African, 69th, made several unforced errors or left one of the sides open for the Austrian to finish the point.

“I stayed on the line most of the match and kept sending back the balls aggressively and wait for her to make mistakes. It worked out today and I hope it also will in the final tomorrow,” Meusburger said.

Meusbuger has yet to win a WTA tournament and this will be her second WTA final after Bad Gastein, Austria in 2007.

The tournament is concluded on Sunday with the singles and doubles finals.