MELBOURNE: Romanian fourth seed Simona Halep powered into the third round of the Australian Open yesterday, defeating British qualifier Harriet Dart 6-2 6-4 in only 77 minutes.
Windy conditions on Rod Laver Arena saw the pair trading breaks of serve at the start of the match before Halep steadied the ship, winning four games in a row before serving out the set.
The two-times Grand Slam champion wavered slightly as she failed to serve out the match while 5-2 up, but she completed the job at the second time of asking to set up a meeting with either 26th seed American Danielle Collins or Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva.
Despite the loss, Dart’s performance was a marked improvement on her appearance at last year’s Open, when she was beaten by Maria Sharapova in the opening round without winning a single game.
Later, Karolina Pliskova extended her winning streak dispatching Germany’s Laura Siegemund 6-3 6-3 to advance to the third round.
The Czech second seed is undefeated this year after winning six straight matches including the title at the Brisbane International earlier this month.
“For sure, the off-season I think was good. I did a lot of work, and I was feeling good in Brisbane,” Pliskova told reporters.
“I like Australia. I always play well here. Of course it’s only third round now, but I have played a lot of matches already, so I feel confident. I feel good enough to continue.”
Pliskova, who made the semi-finals in Melbourne last year, expressed relief after coming through what she described as “an ugly match” against Siegemund who had won their only previous meeting in 2017.
Teenager
Meanwhile, American teenager Coco Gauff has promised to be more aggressive against holder Naomi Osaka in the third round of the Australian Open today, as she hopes for a different outcome in their second career meeting.
A nervous Gauff was beaten 6-3 6-0 by Japan’s Osaka in the third round of the US Open last year but the 15-year-old said after her three-set victory over Romania’s Sorana Cirstea on Wednesday that things would be different.
“I’ll be less nervous this time ... (at the) US Open I was nervous. It was my first time on Arthur Ashe,” Gauff, who downed seven-times Grand Slam winner Venus Williams in her tournament opener in Melbourne, told a news conference.
“We’re both familiar with each other’s games. She plays really aggressive. This time coming in I’m going to be more aggressive ... I think I’m more confident this time around.”
World number one Ash Barty will look to continue her strong start to the tournament but the home hope could face a tricky third-round test against Hobart International champion Elena Rybakina in their first meeting.
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