Defending Madrid Open champion Simona Halep, WTA’s No.1 player, is through to the third round of the tournament. She defeated Belgium’s Elise Mertens in two sets, 6-0, 6-3.
The Romanian needed just one hour and 11 minutes to defeat the WTA No. 16, fresh winner of the Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem in Rabat. Halep hit 23 winners to just 18 unforced errors.
Up next for Halep is the winner of the clash between Czech Republic’s Kristyna Pliskova and US Open winner Sloane Stephens.
In the first round of the tournament, which she won in both 2016 and 2017, Halep defeated Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova.