Simona Halep reached the second round of the Birmingham Classic on Monday. The Romanian, seeded second in the draw, defeated Ukrainian qualifier, Lesia Tsurenko, 6-1, 6-4 in an hour and 18 minutes.
Halep converted five break points on Tsurenko’s serve while saving seven of the nine break points she faced.
Next up for Halep is British wildcard, Harriet Dart. Dart won her opener against Colombian Camila Osorio, 6-2, 6-0 in just 69 minutes. Dart converted six break points on Osorio’s serve while saving one of the two break points she faced.
Birmingham Classic: Mixed results for Croatians and Americans
American Lauren Davis also reached the second round in the British event. Davis got past Slovenia’s Kaja Juvan in two tie-breakers, 7-6(2), 7-6(5) in an hour and 59 minutes.
Davis will play either Tereza Martincova or third seed Camila Giorgi next.
Davis’ fellow countrywoman, Coco Vandeweghe didn’t fare too well in her opener against fellow qualifier, Donna Vekic. The Croatian claimed a 6-4, 6-4 win in an hour and 24 minutes, and now awaits either fourth seed Elise Mertens or another American in the qualifier, Cathy McNally.
Vekic’s compatriot, Petra Martic exited in the first round. Serbian lucky loser, Aleksandra Krunic defeated Martic, 6-4, 7-6(6) in an hour and 40 minutes. Krunic will play either Shelby Rogers or sixth seed Sorana Cirstea next.
Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse and France’s Caroline Garcia also advanced to the second round of the Birmingham Classic. Ruse defeated China’s Qiang Wang, 7-6(6), 7-6(12) in two hours and one minute. Garcia beat Viktorija Golubic, 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(6) in two hours and 48 minutes. Ruse will play either Croatian qualifier Jana Fett or another Chinese player, in the fourth-seeded Shuai Zhang. Garcia awaits Nottingham finalist, the seventh-seeded Alison Riske or British wildcard, Katie Boulter.
Photo Credit: Romanian Tennis Twitter