Was Halep's comeback over Riske a blip, or a sign of vulnerability?

PARIS—Simona Halep had been in this position on Court Philippe Chatrier before. In fact, she’d been in exactly this position the last time she played on this court, 50 weeks ago.

Halep led Alison Riske 3-1 in the third set, just as she had led Jelena Ostapenko 3-1 in the third set of last year’s French Open final. A few minutes earlier, she had led Riske 3-0, and had seemed to be cruising to a bagel third set against the overmatched, 70th-ranked American. But Riske had eked out a hold, had made it 15-15 on Halep’s serve, and had pushed her backward with a penetrating return. In winning the first set 6-2, Riske had also shown that, if Halep’s level dipped, she had the shots—unorthodox as they are—to take advantage.

Would Halep let Riske back in, the way she had let Ostapenko back in a year ago? The answer was a definitive no. Halep ranged backward, and without any hesitation, fired a down-the-line forehand past Riske for a winner. Mini-crisis averted, she put her game back in cruise control and went on to win, 2-6, 6-1, 6-1.

**WATCH—Simona Halep's post-match interview after beating Alison Riske: **

“I had a slow start because it’s always tough to start this tournament,” Halep said. “It’s a pleasure to come here and to play. So always I feel nervous in the beginning.”

“But it was good that I came back so strong. Then I just didn’t think about the result or about the match. I just wanted to relax my arms, because I was moving pretty well also at the beginning, but my arm was very tight and I couldn’t hit the ball as I wanted.”

The question to be asked after this match is: was Halep’s painfully slow start a blip or a sign of vulnerability to come? I’m going to go with blip. Yes, in the first five games against Riske, Halep rushed between points, rushed herself into 16 unforced errors and lost her cool to the point where she slapped the clay with her racquet—all the things she’s been told not to do over the years. But credit Riske: her shots are hardly textbook smooth, but she was making virtually all of them in the early going. When a player is painting the sidelines with her inside-out backhand from the middle of the court, you know she’s on a roll.

Riske has taken a set from Halep before, and she reached the final of the clay-court event in Nuremberg last week. But there was a sense today that Halep would get things turned around eventually. That turnaround finally came, perhaps not coincidentally, right after she smacked her racquet against the court. From there, Halep hit a crisp forehand winner, held serve and broke Riske. While Halep would lose the set, she had gained the momentum. Now she was the one winning the long rallies and finding the open court. At one stage in the second set, she won 12 straight points.

Halep was happy with the way she responded, and that she could respond that way without a visit from her coach, Darren Cahill (coaches aren’t permitted on court at the majors).

“We had many on-court coaching moments, and now I can say I have learned how to come out from a bad feeling on court,” Halep said. “So today was a good moment, I could come back alone, by myself. And this makes me a little bit more confident.”

Halep has conquered her first hurdle: Opening-round nerves. But she says she’s happy they were there.

“I think the nerves are really good,” she said. “It means that you care about what you’re doing and your desire is really big.”

Hurdle No. 2 will come right away, on Thursday, when she faces Taylor Townsend. But Halep says she’s ready to face the hard-hitting lefty.

“She hits strong,” Halep said of the American. “So I just have to move her, to be aggressive, to play like today...”

Then she smiled.

“But just the second and the third set.”

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