Simona halep advances to round 4 of the us open 2016

Simona Halep appeared poised to roll through what started as a one-sided match against No. 31 seed Timea Babos. But when the Hungarian suddenly came alive during the second set, the match quickly became a fight for the third set and a spot in the US Open Round of 16.

When the dust had settled and both players left everything they had on the court, Halep carried the final momentum swing all the way to the finish line, taking a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 win to reach the fourth round.

Halep’s 24-minute demolition of the Hungarian in the first set must have awoken the sleeping giant in Babos, and by the second set, Babos was no longer playing points on the defensive as she did for much of the first. In fact, she appeared to be a completely different player. She began stepping in, attacking the ball and stringing Halep across the court to produce an aggressive all-court game for which the frustrated Romanian had no answer.