AO - Night 4 - Halep v Dart

First match on RLA on Night Four, 2020 AO - Romania’s reigning Wimbledon champion, Simona Halep (4) v Harriet Dart from Great Britain.

Dart served first and had a game point, despite Halep’s forehand winner. Still, the fourth seed broke after Dart put a forehand long and backhands into the net and long.

Halep surprisingly was also broken, failing to win a point. Dart employed the drop shot twice with success, and a backhand winner was included.

Continuing with the issues on serve, Dart was passed by a Halep forehand, then a backhand failure and double fault raised two break points. A second double fault gave Halep the lead 2-1.

Halep stopped the run, and held serve - to love. The third attempt to hold serve by Dart was error ridden, and she fell further adrift at 1-4.

The fourth seed wasn’t hitting many winners, but was forcing her opponent to all parts of the court, making it difficult to execute anything useful. Dart occasionally would offer something worthwhile such as a delightful backhand winner in the sixth game, and that helped her take Halep to deuce. However, a backhand winner from Halep and backhand error from Dart confirmed a 5-1 score.

After Dart held serve for the first time, Halep served for the set at 5-2.

From 30-0, things became a little complicated, three points lost with Halep errors. The break point was saved and set point eventually reached. Saved with a Dart forehand pass. A second set point was converted when Dart missed a return. 6-2 Halep.

Set two began with Halep breaking the first two Dart service games while easily holding both of her own. 4-0.

Serves were held for the next three games, leaving Halep to serve for the match at 5-2.

Dart hit a backhand winner but then netted a forehand. Halep drove a forehand winner from the net and Dart replied with a drop shot. A forehand miss from the British racquet gave Halep match point. It was saved when a Romanian backhand hit the net. A break point arrived with another Halep mistake. The break came and Dart trailed 3-5.

The break was consolidated and Halep went to the line for another try to win the match.

Dart hit a winning forehand, then missed with two down the line. Halep missed a forehand and it was 30-30. Break point after Halep hit the net. Saved when Dart’s backhand failed. Match point arrived but was saved by a British backhand. Another match point saved when a Halep forehand landed long. Yet another match point came along and this time the Dart forehand was too long. Simona Halep won 6-2 6-4.