WTA Miami: Simona Halep eases past Venus Williams to reach quarters
The world no. 3 and the 2nd seed in Miami Simona Halep is through to the quarter-final for the fourth time in the last five years after a dominant 6-3, 6-3 triumph over Venus Williams in an hour and 12 minutes, scoring the fourth consecutive win over the American veteran. With solid footwork and a low number of unforced errors, Halep was always the favorite and she produced rock-solid performance, losing 13 points in nine service games to drop serve only once and mount the pressure on her opponent who couldn't endure it. Struggling physically, Venus gave her best to prolong the match in the closing stages but couldn't go beyond six games, suffering four breaks from seven chances offered to Simona and finishing her run in the fourth round 22 years after she made a debut at this event.
The Romanian was off to a perfect start, breaking in the opening game of the match and cementing the lead with a hold at love, dictating the exchanges to secure another break and open a 3-0 gap. Venus managed to pull one break back in game four and reduce the deficit although that was all she could do by the end of the set, netting a backhand in game nine to offer Simona another break and lose the opener 6-3 after 33 minutes. The second set was more competitive and it was decided in the fourth game when Simona broke at love, moving 3-1 up and landing a forehand winner to confirm it and sail towards the finish line. Serving for the win at 5-3, Simona erased a break point and sealed the deal with two winners that propelled her into the last eight where she will play Qiang Wang or Yafan Wang on Wednesday, having doubles duties on Tuesday.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2TY835r
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