Former World No.1 Simona Halep powered past world number two Paula Badosa 6-3, 6-1 1 in one hour and 16 minutes to reach the third round of the Madrid Open on Saturday.
Two-time champion Simona Halep notched a match-win at the Madrid Open for the 29th time in her career, ousting Paula Badosa of Spain in the second round.
Halep was aggressive from the start as she broke Badosa three times to seal the opening set and took that momentum into the second, racing to a 3-0 lead. The Romanian secured another break and closed out the match with ease to stay en route to the third title in Madrid.
Halep will next take on No.14 seed Coco Gauff in the third round, after Gauff outlasted Yulia Putintseva in the match at Manolo Santana Stadium 6-1, 2-6, 6-4. Halep holds a 2-0 win-loss record against Gauff.
Later, Tunisia's Ons Jabeur faced a tough time against Russian Varvara Gracheva as she survived a double break in the decider to set with a 7-5, 0-6, 6-4 win against Varvara Gracheva, needing nearly two hours to quell the challenge of the world No.73.
After the win over Gracheva, No.8 seed Jabeur set up a clash with Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, who got the better of Karolina Muchova 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.
( With inputs from ANI )
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