Originally published on 22/10/14
Halep had never beaten a player in the top three in eight attempts and in two previous matches against Williams had won just seven games, but she crushed the world No.1 6-0 6-2 in just 65 minutes.
The last time Williams managed to win just two games was in 1998, when aged 16 she lost 6-1 6-1 to Joanette Kruger in Oklahoma City. The defeat also snapped a 16-match winning streak at the year-end championships, where Williams is a four-time champion.
"Embarrassing describes the way I played today," admitted Williams, who made 36 unforced errors including seven double faults. “My forehand was off today again. I guess it went on an early vacation. Lord knows my serve was as well. My serve, I don’t even know. My serve was at best in the 10 and under division in juniors.”
Halep, who was ranked No.47 at the start of 2013, is now 2-0 after beating Eugenie Bouchard in her opening match and is on the verge of qualifying for the semi-finals.
“I have no words to explain how I feel and how I felt on court,” admitted Halep. “It was an amazing match for me. I played really well. I was aggressive and after the first set I wasn’t scared. Everything went well for me today. I think it was the best match of my life.”
Williams, who beat Ana Ivanovic in her opening match, still has a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals. The two-time defending champion will face Eugenie Bouchard on Thursday, whose semi-final hopes all but faded after a 6-1 6-3 defeat to Ivanovic.
"This is the beauty of the round-robin system that I still had a chance," said Ivanovic, who will need to beat Halep on Friday for a chance to progress to the semi-finals.
| Seed | Red Group | SW | SH | EB | AI | Record | Set W-L | Games W-L |
| 1 | Serena Williams | – | L | W | 1-1 | 2-2 | 14-20 | |
| 4 | Simona Halep | W | – | W | 2-0 | 4-0 | 24-7 | |
| 5 | Eugenie Bouchard | L | – | L | 0-2 | 0-4 | 9-24 | |
| 7 | Ana Ivanovic | L | W | – | 1-1 | 2-2 | 20-16 |
