CoCo Vandeweghe finds her game in Stuttgart with win over Simona Halep

CoCo Vandeweghe's game isn't exactly suited to clay, and yet, she finds herself in the semifinals of Stuttgart with a 6-4, 6-1 win over world No. 1 Simona Halep.

In their only previous meeting, in Madrid last year, Vandeweghe won just two games off the Romanian. From 4-all in the first set, Vandeweghe stepped on the gas, reeling off five games in a row before Halep got on the board.

The American began her week in Germany by dismantling Miami Open champion Sloane Stephens, 6-1, 6-0. To say she's on a tear would be an understatement. It helps that Stuttgart is an incredible tournament to be at, with top hospitality, a lively stadium court, elaborate dining spreads and, of course, a shiny new Porsche as added incentive for the champion.

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But Vandeweghe's clay season didn't start off this smoothly. In the Fed Cup semifinals last weekend, she dropped her first rubber since 2015 to Kristina Mladenovic. It ended up being Stephens and Madison Keys who helped put Team USA in the final.

But a new week brought new opportunity with Vandeweghe's Stuttgart debut—made possibly by a wildcard. Going into the Premier event, Vandeweghe was riding a three-match losing streak. Her last win was in Indian Wells over Kaia Kanepi, which also happened to be her only WTA win in 2018 until now.

The world No. 16's big-hitting game has translated well on hard courts and grass—she reached the semifinals of the Australian Open and US Open in 2017, and is a two-time quarterfinalist at Wimbledon. But clearly it's due time to consider the 26-year-old a clay-court threat.

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