In the second of the semi-finals in Singapore, the winner of the red group, Simona Halep will take on second place in the white group, Agnieszka Radwanska. Before this tournament began, Radwanska and Halep were probably the two players who had struggled most for form between Wimbledon and Singapore… therefore I am quite surprised to see both players in the last four! Halep advanced with victories of Eugenie Bouchard and Serena Williams; her victory over Serena, a 6-0 6-2 thrashing, was the biggest win of her career and no matter what happens here, has made this an especially memorable tournament for Halep.

In Friday’s match with Ana Ivanovic, Halep appeared to struggle with the awkwardness of the situation as she let slip a 5-2 first set lead, eventually losing it on the tiebreak.  Halep deserves a huge amount of credit for the way she played this match.  After losing the first set, you could have expected her to tank the second set.  However she maintained her committment to the match and won the second set, which ultimately, sent Ivanovic packing.  In the end, Ivanovic won the match, 7-6(7) 3-6 6-3, but Halep should be commended for her professionalism and giving it 100%, no matter what Ana fans may say!

Radwanska looked dead and buried during her final group match against Maria Sharapova.  At 7-5 5-1 down, she staged a rather miraculous comeback to save three match points, win five straight games, force a tiebreak and WIN the tiebreak.  To my mind, I can’t ever remember Sharapova collapsing like this.  She nearly lost a 5-1 third set lead to Lucie Safarova in Stuttgart, but recovered in that one to win the match (and the tournament).  However she wasn’t able to bring it home in the tiebreak, serving up one of her many double faults down set point.  If Maria had taken won of her three match points, then she would have qualified for the semi-finals instead of Radwanska………

Credit to Aga, who has played some great tennis during stages of all three of her matches this week.  Against Petra Kvitova, she delivered her most consistent display, beating an out-of-sorts opponent in straight sets, 6-2 6-3.  Playing Wozniacki, Radwanska produced some sublime shot making, but unforced errors played a part in that loss and against Maria today.  It will also be interesting to see what she has left in the tank after fighting with Sharapova for over three hours.  Radwanska has struggled at Grand Slams before after a series of lengthy matches so her fitness will be an issue.

This semi-final has the potential to be a really engaging and tactical match-up.  The pair have played twice in 2014 with both matches being decided in straight sets; Halep won in the semi-finals of Doha, 7-5 6-2 and Radwanska won in the semi-finals of Indian Wells, 6-3 6-4.  I’m really on the fence with this match… I’ve written both players off this week, for which I should hang my head in shame! Before the Halep-Ivanovic match, I was 100% going for Simona.  After Halep-Ivanovic, i’m more on the fence.  I’m going to stick with my instinct and say that we will get a Serena-Simona repeat in the final.

Prediction: Halep d. Radwanska in 2 tight sets

Singapore keeps delivering up drama and excitement and this has been a fabulous tournament.  I’ve throughly enjoyed blogging about it this week and am relieved now that it is the weekend, I can finally watch live tennis 🙂