Second seed Simona Halep won her second-round match at the Birmingham Classic on Wednesday. The former world no. 1 posted a 6-3, 6-2 win over Britain’s Harriet Dart in 62 minutes.
Halep won 84% of her first-serve points to Dart’s 61% and 76% of her second-serve points to the latter’s 35%. Halep did lose her serve once but also converted four of the five break points she had on her opponent’s serve. In the quarter-finals, the Romanian will play another Briton in Katie Boulter.
Birmingham Classic: Romanians’ domination
Boulter ousted France’s Caroline Garcia in their round-of-16 match, 7-6(5), 6-1 in an hour and 31 minutes. Garcia won more first-serve points as compared to Boulter – 81% to the latter’s 72% but where Boulter won 51% of her second-serve points, Garcia was able to win only 38%. Boulter saved two of the three break points she faced while converting all three break points on Garcia’s serve.
Sixth seed Sorana Cirstea also took her place in the quarter-finals with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Aleksandra Krunic in their second-round meeting. The Romanian needed 72 minutes to wrap up the proceedings. Cirstea won 90% of her first-serve points to the Serbian’s 50% and 50% of her second-serve points to the latter’s 40%. Cirstea saved the only break point she faced while converting five break points on Krunic’s serve.
The world no. 36 will play Donna Vekic next. The Croatian got past Cathy McNally in their second-round match, 7-5, 6-3 in an hour and 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, the last two first-round matches that had to be postponed to Wednesday were also wrapped up at the Birmingham Classic. Third seed Camila Giorgi claimed a 7-6(7), 6-4 win over Tereza Martincova, and will play Lauren Davis for a spot in the quarter-finals. Eighth seed Shuai Zhang posted a comeback, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 comeback win over Jana Fett. The Chinese will play Elena-Gabriela Ruse next.
Photo Credit: Romanian Tennis Twitter