On Thursday, the Australian Open got its classic that will be talked about for years to come.
World No.1 Simona Halep overcame 2016 champion Angelique Kerber in an utterly enthralling three-set tussle, a 6-3 4-6 9-7 victory that may well go down as one of the more memorable Grand Slam women’s matches in history.
The result sets the stage for a final between Halep and Caroline Wozniacki, the world’s top-two ranked players who have both at times been chastised for their inability to win a major title.
On Saturday night, one of them will become a Grand Slam champion for the first time.
"I feel great. I feel nice that it's happening. I play another final. Is the third one (after two at Roland Garros). Maybe is with luck. We'll see Saturday," Halep said.
"I feel happy. I feel proud that I could stay there and fight till the end. So it's a nice feeling. I'm looking forward for the last match of this tournament."
It’s not often that a win for a world No.1 feels like an upset. But Halep has, when comparing her results at the other Grand Slam events, underperformed at Melbourne Park, and was playing a two-time major winner who was the hottest player in tennis right now, undefeated in 14 matches to begin the 2018 season. Halep had lost four of their past five matches, all played out in Kerber's career-best 2016 season.
But after letting a 6-3 3-1 lead slip and then seeing two match points come and go in the 10th game of the third set, Halep somehow refocused, saved a couple of match points of her own, and eventually closed out the German in two hours, 20 minutes.
"I smiled. I said, Maybe I can do it again (after dropping two match points earlier). In my mind," Halep said.
"I think helped me a little bit to relax and to take it like it is. I didn't put pressure on myself, and I think it was a good timing."
The opening set was a tale of Kerber’s fluctuations. Already down a break, the German fell away from a forehand to send it long, played a panicky drop shot into net and then sprayed another forehand well out when on the run to fall behind 3-0.
Soon the rock-solid Halep has surged to a 5-0 lead before Kerber found her range and intensity. Her grunt returned – it had been curiously absent up until that point – and she teed off in the seventh game, with four straight winners to hold for 2-5.
She closed the gap to 3-5 – by now the crowd was coming to life – before her game deserted her again. It meant Halep had the opening set in just 25 minutes.
The Romanian, keenly aware of Kerber’s struggles on her forehand wing, played tactically astute tennis in the second. Instead of firing hard, linear drives on which the former world No.1 thrives, she added shape and heaviness to her forehand – à la Ash Barty – and allowed the German to self-destruct.
But from a set and a break down, Kerber rallied. This was gritty, tough Angie at her best – she wasn’t playing well but she just needed to keep enough balls in the court to prevent Halep getting too comfortable.
Kerber same so close to dropping serve and trailing 5-3, but managed to land an off-forehand on the baseline for a winner to save a second break point. When she slotted a running forehand passing shot up the line to level scores at 4-4, the Rod Laver Arena crowd roared – they had a match.
Becoming increasingly negative, Halep began to leak errors, and hit herself out of the set. And on it went to a third.
One could ramble for thousands of words about how many twists and turns and amazing points characterised the epic final set that unfolded. Instead, we’ll boil it down to a few key moments.
Kerber opened the set by breaking serve after two incredible rallies – the second of which, at 22-strokes and featuring every shot in the book, prompted shrieks from the crowd and a standing ovation – to take an early lead.
But Halep, undeterred, would later recover from 0-30 down in the seventh game by belting three successive winners to hold for 4-3, and then broke serve to take a 5-3 lead.
Serving for the match, Halep arrived at 30-15, but Kerber came roaring back, eventually winning a stunning 26-stroke rally with a backhand winner that saw her finish on the ground. With that winner, she’d broken back for 4-5 but would face two match points in the next game – the second of which she saved with another backhand winner.
Kerber embarked on a three-game run that saw her break for 6-5 and serve for the match, but here, it was Halep’s turn to save match points, her forcing forehands rewarded. Another searching rally – this one 16 strokes – was won by the Romanian, and scores were locked at 6-6.
"I was aggressive. I had this in my mind, and I wanted to finish the points quicker, but was not that easy with her. She's moving very well," Halep reflected.
"I try to hit the ball. Not to be scared that I am two match balls down. And I think I played pretty well those balls. I was not afraid of losing, so maybe that's why ... I won those balls, and then I got the confidence back that I'm still alive and I can do it."
The pair went game for game on serve until Halep, leading 8-7, arrived at a third match point after coming out on top of a thrilling 18-shot exchange. Kerber saved that with forcing play, but couldn’t deny Halep on the Romanian’s fourth opportunity.
When Kerber fired a backhand long, a classic was concluded.
