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| Heather Watson succumbs to Simona Halep at French Open | Heather Watson succumbs to Simona Halep at French Open |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| In the absence of Serena Williams, it is going to take a good player to stop Simona Halep winning this French Open. The seedings say she is the fourth best player in the draw. Heather Watson might beg to differ. | In the absence of Serena Williams, it is going to take a good player to stop Simona Halep winning this French Open. The seedings say she is the fourth best player in the draw. Heather Watson might beg to differ. |
| The slim 22-year-old Romanian, with the heavy shot and court savvy of a veteran, allowed Britain’s No2 not a moment’s peace in the Bull Ring to win 6-2, 6-4 and move without fuss into the third round, where she will meet María-Teresa Torró-Flor. | |
| It is unlikely the young Spaniard, who beat Magdalena Rybarikova 6-2, 2-6, 6-2, will detain Halep any longer than did Watson in a feisty performance. | It is unlikely the young Spaniard, who beat Magdalena Rybarikova 6-2, 2-6, 6-2, will detain Halep any longer than did Watson in a feisty performance. |
| The Channel Islander took her down to the wire in the second set but, by that stage, she had given up too many easy points going for her shots at critical moments, the price she is prepared to pay for a new attitude to the game. | The Channel Islander took her down to the wire in the second set but, by that stage, she had given up too many easy points going for her shots at critical moments, the price she is prepared to pay for a new attitude to the game. |
| After an hour and 19 minutes, Halep battled through deuce and finished the job with a rifling forehand out of Watson’s reach, a shot she seems able to produce with gunslinger ease. | After an hour and 19 minutes, Halep battled through deuce and finished the job with a rifling forehand out of Watson’s reach, a shot she seems able to produce with gunslinger ease. |
| Watson was disappointed but encouraged, after a splendid run of form. She will skip Nottingham to give a sprained ankle time to heal and then prepare for Wimbledon at Birmingham and Eastbourne with renewed confidence. | Watson was disappointed but encouraged, after a splendid run of form. She will skip Nottingham to give a sprained ankle time to heal and then prepare for Wimbledon at Birmingham and Eastbourne with renewed confidence. |
| “She played well, but I didn’t feel she was a total different level,” Watson said. While falling short of anointing Halep as her choice to win the tournament, she said: “I honestly think in the women’s game it’s open for anybody, anybody who has that good day. Anybody can win on their day. I don’t feel like it’s as consistent as the men’s game is, and I think that’s a good thing.” | “She played well, but I didn’t feel she was a total different level,” Watson said. While falling short of anointing Halep as her choice to win the tournament, she said: “I honestly think in the women’s game it’s open for anybody, anybody who has that good day. Anybody can win on their day. I don’t feel like it’s as consistent as the men’s game is, and I think that’s a good thing.” |
| As for the rest of her summer, she is characteristically upbeat about taking over as Britain’s No1 in the absence of the injured Laura Robson and says she expects to make some more noise at Wimbledon. | As for the rest of her summer, she is characteristically upbeat about taking over as Britain’s No1 in the absence of the injured Laura Robson and says she expects to make some more noise at Wimbledon. |
| “I went into the last grass court season a bit scared [because of ill-health and injury] and just hoping I’d play OK, but this time it’s very different. I’m going in and I want to win. I want to go far. I want to make the second week.” | “I went into the last grass court season a bit scared [because of ill-health and injury] and just hoping I’d play OK, but this time it’s very different. I’m going in and I want to win. I want to go far. I want to make the second week.” |
| Halep, meanwhile, has business left to finish in Paris. The strained stomach muscle that forced her to quit in the third round in Rome is no bother, she says. “I’m 100%. That’s why I stopped in Rome, to be ready to play here.” | Halep, meanwhile, has business left to finish in Paris. The strained stomach muscle that forced her to quit in the third round in Rome is no bother, she says. “I’m 100%. That’s why I stopped in Rome, to be ready to play here.” |
| With the defending champion, Williams, removed from the other side of the draw and the No2 seed, Li Na, also gone from her own half before the third round – a first in the history of the game – the obvious threats in Halep’s quarter are Petra Kvitova, who plays Svetlana Kuznetsova next, and the increasingly dangerous American Sloane Stephens, who will be waiting for her in the fourth round if she beats Ekaterina Makarova on Saturday. | With the defending champion, Williams, removed from the other side of the draw and the No2 seed, Li Na, also gone from her own half before the third round – a first in the history of the game – the obvious threats in Halep’s quarter are Petra Kvitova, who plays Svetlana Kuznetsova next, and the increasingly dangerous American Sloane Stephens, who will be waiting for her in the fourth round if she beats Ekaterina Makarova on Saturday. |
| In the bottom quarter of that side of the draw, the field is looking decidedly thin, so Halep has a decent run in front of her to reach the semi-finals. Were she to make the final, she has good recent form against Maria Sharapova, stretching her in the Madrid final. She is also a match apiece this year with Agnieszka Radwanska. | In the bottom quarter of that side of the draw, the field is looking decidedly thin, so Halep has a decent run in front of her to reach the semi-finals. Were she to make the final, she has good recent form against Maria Sharapova, stretching her in the Madrid final. She is also a match apiece this year with Agnieszka Radwanska. |
| Sharapova, seeded seventh but still everyone’s darling (she is back on the showcase Court Philippe Chatrier on Friday), should beat Paula Ormaechea, of Argentina, and Radwanska has what looks like a straightforward assignment against the Croatian Ajla Tomljanovic. Then again, this is a year and a tournament that is racked with uncertainty. | |
| The most attractive match in the next batch of third-round clashes is surely the meeting of a couple of upstarts, Garbiñe Muguruza, Serena’s tormentor, and Anna Schmiedlova, who beat her sister, Venus. The tournament organisers apparently don’t see it that way; in an uninspired piece of scheduling, they have shunted them out to Court seven. | |
| The rest of the programme went pretty much to form on day five of a tournament that has been played out under a blanket of grey for most of the week. The forecast is better for the weekend. | The rest of the programme went pretty much to form on day five of a tournament that has been played out under a blanket of grey for most of the week. The forecast is better for the weekend. |
| Another Spaniard from left-field is through, though, Silvia Soler-Espinosa, who put out the Belgian Yanina Wickmayer, 6-2, 6-4. | Another Spaniard from left-field is through, though, Silvia Soler-Espinosa, who put out the Belgian Yanina Wickmayer, 6-2, 6-4. |
| It was Wickmayer who added grief to Caroline Wozniacki’s bag of woe on Tuesday, when she eliminated her from the tournament just two days after Rory McIlroy had ended their relationship with a phone call. | It was Wickmayer who added grief to Caroline Wozniacki’s bag of woe on Tuesday, when she eliminated her from the tournament just two days after Rory McIlroy had ended their relationship with a phone call. |