Halep survives brutal D.C. heat with help of Cahill
Her coach Cahill lent a helping hand during her three-setter over
World No. 2 Simona Halep finished off her biggest challenge in D.C. so far with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 over Mariana Duque Marino. Wearing Adidas’ new black kit, the Romanian battled through court surface temperatures reaching 146 degrees Fahrenheit.
So far this week, the Citi Open has scheduled women's matches to start the day at 2:00 p.m., with the top-seeded Halep playing during scorching conditions in both her matches so far. At least she hasn't had to sit through a rain delay.
After dropping the first set, Halep’s coach Darren Cahill urged her to use more spin on her forehand and attack her opponent’s backhand.
The match turned in Halep's favor, but the heat was incredibly difficult for both players. Duque-Marino called for a medical timeout trailing 5-2 in the second set, and a visibly fatigued Halep got a pep talk from Cahill who knows a few things about summer heat from his experiences at the Australian Open.
Cahill reminded Halep that both players were uncomfortable, while expressing confidence that she could endure it.
The tournament’s “heat rule” was in effect that allowed the women to have a 10-minute break after the second set, but Cahill later pointed out how it can be more difficult to take a long break and restart in these conditions.
Halep survived, and can only recover and hope for cooler conditions, or a later start, against Ekaterina Makarova in the quarterfinals.