Kontaveit takes on Halep for Romania title and place in WTA Finals

The Estonian would leapfrog Ons Jabeur into the remaining WTA Finals place if she wins on Sunday

Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit in action during her semi final match against Czech Republic’s Marketa Vondrousova (Panoramic)

Simon Cambers

October 30, 2021

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Anett Kontaveit moved to within one win of a place in the season-ending WTA Finals as she took out Rebecca Peterson of Sweden 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday to reach the final of the Transylvania Open.

The Estonian extended her winning streak to nine matches and made it 25 victories in 27 matches with another confident performance. Victory on Sunday would give her a fourth title of 2021 and put her in the eighth and final qualifying spot for the WTA Finals, which will be played in Guadalajara, Mexico from November 10-17.

Our final is really like a fairytale 🤩

Simona Halep (1) vs Anett Kontaveit (2)#TO2021 pic.twitter.com/hcafFVInlj
— Transylvania Open (@TransylvaniaOpn) October 30, 2021

The only problem for Kontaveit now, though, is that her opponent in Sunday’s final will be former world No 1 Simona Halep, a woman she has never beaten.

Halep continued her resurgence with a brilliant 6-0, 6-1 demolition of Marta Kostyuk, the Croat who had been equally impressive in beating the US Open champion, Emma Raducanu, in the previous round.

“I’ve been feeling really good on the court, and today wasn’t as easy as the scoreboard seemed. I really had to fight for it,” Kontaveit said, before turning her thoughts to Halep, who leads their head to head meetings 3-0, winning all of them in straight sets.

“It’s going to be very difficult, but I’m really enjoying myself out on the court,” she said. “I’m ready for a really tough battle, and hopefully, I’ll get to play some good tennis.”

Halep said she had fulfilled her goal at the start of the week, and was glad to get revenge on Kostyuk having lost to her in Indian Wells.

“I really wanted to play the final here. It’s a home tournament and always when I come here, I feel great. I’m really happy, motivated and I’m looking forward to play the final tomorrow,” Halep said.

“I knew that I had to play a little bit faster, more aggressive and to open the court a little bit more. (In Indian Wells), she didn’t miss very much as she did today, but I think I took the ball faster and quicker, and the serve helped me today.”