After defending champion Elina Svitolina victoriously kicked off singles play in the Purple Group on Day 2 of the Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen, Wimbledon champion Simona Halep saved a match point in the second set and recovered from a break down in the decider to beat US Open champion Bianca Andreescu at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre in their much-anticipated first career meeting.
The first player to go up a break in the opening set was tournament debutante Andreescu, and even though Halep broke right back for 2-2, the Canadian of Romanian origin broke her opponent’s serve two more times and confidently went ahead 6-3 in 38 minutes, posting 15 winners to 10 unforced errors, compared to Halep’s 5 winners to 10 unforced errors.