Simona Halep, the reigning world #1 from Romania is determined to make her third final at Roland Garros only this time she hopes to raise la coupe Suzanne Lenglen having lost a tight three-setter to Maria Sharapova in 2014 and last year, also in three, to Jelena Ostapenko.

Halep is attempting to make her second slam final of the season having lost an enthralling and exhausting three-set match to Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in Melbourne.

Heading into this third-round match, the twenty-six-year-old Romanian led Andrea Petkovic 7-1 in their head-to-head, five of which were on clay. They last played at Roland Garros in 2014 with Halep prevailing 6-2, 7-6 in the semi-finals. Although Petkovic from Germany is currently ranked #107, Halep was all too familiar with her resume. Petkovic with six titles on the WTA tour, reached a career-high ranking of #9 in 2011.

The first set was highly competitive, and it was the thirty-year-old German who took the early lead having broken Halep in her first service game. The world number one would immediately break back and level the set at 2 games all. They remained on serve through the ninth game but following a double fault by Petkovic, Halep converted one of her two break points to go up 5-4.

Petkovic continued to play aggressively and move forward whenever Halep hit short. She found much success with the swinging forehand volley and found herself at 30-30 when Halep double-faulted. Following two errors from Halep and exceptional defense from Petkovic, the Romanian was broken, and they were now back on serve.

Petkovic served to take the lead in the first set but following a double fault and netted forehand, found herself down double break point. The German saved one when Halep’s forehand went wide but converted on the next when Petkovic’s backhand found the net.

The two-time French Open finalist served for the set leading 6-5. Although the German’s two-handed backhand let her down on consecutive points, she took the game to a second deuce following consecutive forehand errors from Halep. Petkovic got a second serve on Halep’s third set point but was unable to take advantage when her backhand found the net and Halep closed out the set 7-5.

Unfortunately, the second set did not approximate the outstanding level of the first. Petkovic was broken in the first game and would lose the set 0-6 following an injury to her right knee. Although she called for the trainer and had it wrapped, she removed the tape at the end of the third game.

Halep should be pleased with her level of play especially in the first set when she faced a formidable competitor. She ended the 90-minute match with 19 winners to 17 unforced errors and converted 6 out of 11 break point opportunities. In addition to her imposing groundstrokes and agile movement on the dirt, she served exceptionally well winning over 61% on both first and second serve points.

Next up for the world #1 is the 16th-seed Elise Mertens of Belgium. Mertens, just twenty-two years of age, had an incredible run at the Australian Open this past January, losing in the semifinals to eventual champion, Caroline Wozniacki.

Halep defeated Mertens in straights earlier this spring on the clay in Madrid. This highly anticipated fourth round match at Roland Garros will be their second career meeting and hopefully, will surpass their last.