Halep falls short… yet again

There was a moment in that second set when, just for a moment, Simona Halep looked like a world No.1 in the making. Trailing 4-1, the Romanian won five games on the trot and levelled her first round match against Maria Sharapova at the US Open.

Then she reverted to type.

Just as momentum was well and truly on her side in a scintillating encounter, Sharapova streaked away to another 4-1 lead in the third. Halep attempted to mount a comeback, but the Russian wasn’t going to let that lead slip twice. As a result it was the world No.146, not the world No.2, who sunk to her knees with tears in her eyes.

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Of course, there is no shame in losing to Maria Sharapova. In fact, coming into the match Halep had lost every one of their six previous encounters.

But things had changed since their last meeting in 2015.

Halep has risen solidly up the rankings, and currently sits just five points off the world No.1 spot. Sharapova, meanwhile, has served a 15-month suspension for doping and as a result hasn’t appeared in a Grand Slam singles match for 19-months. In fact, due to various injuries she had only played one competitive tennis match since May.

The odds seemed firmly in the Romanian’s favour.

That she could not grasp that momentum at the end of that second and close out the win simply shines a spotlight on the fragility that has dogged Halep’s game over the years.

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Leading by a set and 4-1 in the French Open final, Halep had the trophy within her grasp only to see it blasted out of sight by a free-swinging Jelena Ostapenko. Three-times this season she has been one win away from taking the top spot in women’s tennis. Each time she has been beaten, her most recent defeat coming at the hands of a rampant Garbine Muguruza in a 56-minute final in Cincinnati.

Unfortunately, for the WTA, she could still become world No.1 at the end of the US Open. However, she would do so due to the failings of her peers rather than her performance at the tournament.

That, of course, is not Halep’s fault. What’s more, exponents of the ranking system would say that she deserves to be there because of the consistency of her performance over a 12-month cycle.

However, the reality of sport is that legitimacy is achieved by results on the biggest of stages.

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Yes, Halep is a force on the WTA. Yes she has enjoyed a career that most mere mortals can only dream about. But shouldn’t a world No.1 be capable of more? For her to belong in the rarified air at the top of the game – to join the likes of Serena, Maria and increasingly Garbine as true sporting superstars – she has to start winning the matches that matter.

With every defeat to a Sharapova, or every slip on her way to the top of the world, the questions merely mount around the seemingly fragile Romanian.

The numerical probability is that the WTA will crown Simona Halep world No.1 in a couple of weeks. They will celebrate, she will pose with a trophy, and most of the world won’t pay attention. That’s because they will be talking about the winner of the US Open.