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In three Rome matches Halep dropped only seven games

Carla didn't have to show her best game against Kvitova because the Czech played one of the worst matches this season, and cut her own cord with numerous errors. Halep continued with convincing shows

After demonstrating an insecure serve and a game, the Spaniard took only 73 minutes to beat Kvitova . This time her serves were smarter, more precise and she was consistent in exchanges. Still, Carla didn't have to risk during most of them since Kvitova played really bad. From catastrophic leg work to defense in exchanges from the base line to errors at the simplest hits. Nothing worked for her.

Besides, she won only five out of 12 points on the net and in the end fell to miserable 29% of points. Although Petra really failed, we have to admit that it would be questionable in which way the match would have gone if she had used break points. While she used only one out of six, Carla used five out of six and that was the biggest difference. In 17 games Kvitova made 25 unforced errors, while the Spaniard ended the match with a positive record (19 winners - 18 unforced). After the win, Carla said:

- I think I played well. Sometimes I was aggressive which is important against Petra. I was focused and fought for every point. I'm playing with a lot of confidence and enjoying every match. I expect a difficult one against Halep since she's playing amazing. Every time we play we have long exchanges and the match lasts a long time. Still, you never know.

True, Halep left the best impression in Rome. She needed only 54 minutes to beat Dulgheru. She was playing well, with deep exchanges disabled Dulgheru to impose her monotone game and easily scored winners. True, Dulgheru was too passive which made Halep's job easier. But, in the second set she was dominant when Dulgheru tried to surprise her with a more aggressive game. Truth be told, she offered break chances in every game serve, but she saved all five of them and easily reached the semi-finals. The Romanian didn't even break a sweat in Rome because in three matches she missed only seven games. Once more she ended the match with an impressive record of 21 winners and 13 unforced errors.

- I was very good in today's match. She was tired so I had an advantage from the start. It's not easy to play against a fellow countryman, but during the match you forget who's on the other side of the court and you just want to do your job - Halep was honest.

The Romanian has 5-4 record in head-to-head matches, but she lost all four on clay. Still, she left a better impression in Rome and she should use the serve advantage. Although Suarez proved it's not smart to go against her, she will have to show a lot better game if she wants to surprise today.

Halep finally plays at the level she's supposed to ahead of Roland Garoos. She beat Venus, Dugheru, and Riske convincingly by losing only 3 games per match max. Her footwork's great, she is aggressive enough and simply doing great. Carla has been doing badly all throughout this tournament in every level of the game. Shes got too many ups and downs and that kind of a game cannot work against Halep, who's in this excellent form. Bouchard could have won easily if she wasn't for her arrogance and bad approach but Kvitova beat herself. She did badly, which is not surprising as rarely does well in two consecutive tournaments. Halep already beat Carla easy on hard court and everything is even better today for her. She's on fire and I don't think Carla has anything that could stop he at the moment.