ROME — Top seed Simona Halep gave her French Open preparations a boost when she claimed the Italian Open in Rome on Monday after second seed Karolina Pliskova retired from the final with injury when she was down 6-0 2-1.
Victory gave Halep her first title in Rome and her third consecutive title of the year after wins in Dubai — before the COVID-19 hiatus — and Prague last month.
Pliskova attempted to continue playing after receiving treatment on her lower back and leg between sets but eventually decided to retire, not willing to take any chances before the French Open which begins on Sept. 27.
Halep raced into a 5-0 lead in the opening set, breaking the Czech defending champion three times and the Romanian also saved three break points at 0-40 down in the fourth game.
Halep, who even shook off a hard fall in the second game, was at her aggressive and disciplined best while Pliskova looked sluggish with her on-court movement, failing to hit a single winner as she was bagelled in 20 minutes.
The limited number of fans allowed into Foro Italico’s centre court urged Pliskova to make it a contest, applauding the rare points she got on the score board, and it seemed to work as the second set started with the pair breaking each other. — Reuters
