S. Halep HP 09.11

Simona Halep celebrates "Super Tuesday" / Emma Raducanu fails after a two-and-a-half-hour thriller

Linz, 9. 11. 2021 - While Simona Halep was able to enjoy "Super Tuesday" to the full, Emma Raducanu had to say goodbye to Linz at 8.45 pm. The top seed at the "Upper Austria Ladies Linz 2021" lost to Chinese qualifier Xinyu Wang in three sets. Halep had previously celebrated a two-set win against Aliaksandra Sasnovich from Belarus and is now through to the quarter-finals of the WTA tournament.

Of course, Upper Austria's Councillor for Economic Affairs and Sport, Markus Achleitner, and the President of the Austrian Tennis Federation, Magnus Brunner, could not miss this spectacle: World-class tennis on LINZ AG Day with top players Emma Raducanu and Simona Halep! "The Upper Austria Ladies in the TipsArena in Linz not only offers great tennis, it is also an opportunity to present our federal state as a top destination far beyond the national borders," said Markus Achleitner during the tournament run-up.  

Tournament director Sandra Reichel's nerves were really strained on Tuesday afternoon! Because she was naturally hoping that Simona Halep and Emma Raducanu, the top stars of the 31st "Upper Austria Ladies Linz", would not fail in their first round match. Halep started confidently against Aliaksandra Sasnovich, leading 4:0, before the player from Belarus severely disrupted the Romanian's rhythm and levelled the score at 4:4.

Loudly supported by her fans, who had come to the TipsArena with Romanian flags and chanted "Simona, Simona", Halep won the first set 7:5 after just under an hour. The 30-year-old then won the second set 6:3 in just under half an hour. And in an interview with tournament ambassador Barbara Schett, the winner then thanked her fans in Romanian, who had created a great atmosphere. In the quarter-finals, Halep will face the Italian Jasmine Paoloni, who beat Saisai Zheng 6:4, 3:6, 6:2.  
 
Emma Raducanu's Linz premiere only came to an end after two and a half hours. The 18-year-old Brit proved to be a great fighter against the 20-year-old Chinese player Xinyu Wang, overcoming a 1:6 debacle in the first set and winning the second set 7:6 (0). In the third set, Raducanu injured herself during a sprint to the net, had to be treated and fended off several match points from the Chinese player before losing 5:7. It was ultimately a deserved victory for the qualifier, who produced fewer errors than the US Open winner.

Strong performance by Danielle Collins

Danielle Collins proved in the early afternoon that she is one of the top favourites to win the tournament. The American defeated Greet Minnen from Belgium 6:1, 6:2, while Alison Riske (USA) also celebrated a successful result with a 6:4, 6:4 win over Grabher's opponent Alize Cornet (FRA).

Also in the quarter-finals of the women's tennis classic in Linz: Alison van Uytvanck (BEL) after her 6:0, 6:3 victory over qualifier Lesia Tsurenko from the Ukraine and the Romanian Jaqueline Cristian, who benefited from the withdrawal of the Swede Rebecca Peterson due to injury at 5:2 in the first set.