Simona Halep pressed her claims for inclusion on the list of favourites for Wimbledon 2019 with an impressive 6-3 6-1 dismissal of Victoria Azarenka.
The Romanian, whose best showing at the All England Club is a semi-final appearance in 2014, looks in good form on grass this year and she is happy with her performances so far.
“It wasn’t as easy as the score suggests,” Halep said in her post-match interview. “I felt great on court and I think I played my best tennis here on grass.”
“She is a very tough opponent, so I gave everything I had and I was very positive and confident.”
The Romanian might face the player everyone is talking about, 15-year-old Cori Gauff, in the next round, but she did not seem too concerned about who her opponent would be.
Halep said, “I’m gaining confidence match by match. The first two were not easy but now I feel better. I’m looking forward to the next one.”
After a patchy beginning, Halep takes control
Azarenka made a strong start. She got the better of Halep in the early rallies and had chances to break in the second game of the match.
The Romanian escaped that game, but she could not repeat the trick in game four and the Belarussian surged into a 3-1 lead.
However, that was as good as it got for Azarenka. Halep found her rhythm in the fifth game and started to force the World No.40 to hit more difficult shots.
Nevertheless, the improvement from the 2018 French Open champion affected the Belarussian more than it should have. She made a stream of unforced errors to enable the Romanian to win four games in a row and take the set 6-3.
Halep then dominated the second set. She started to play at a level close to her best and the out-of-sorts Azarenka simply could not handle it.
The Romanian won most of her service games easily. Then, when the Belarussian served, she stepped in and hit attacking returns. This enabled her to seize control of the points and manoeuvre Azarenka around the court until she made an error or the World No.7 hit a winner.
The second-set stats tell the story. Halep won 13 of 23 return points, 31 of 47 total points and six of the seven games played. It was a masterclass from one player and a disaster from her opponent.
