Halep sails past Mertens at Madrid Open

MADRID: Reigning champion Simona Halep edged closer to a third consecutive Madrid Open title by beating Belgium’s Elise Mertens in the second round on Tuesday.

Halep, the winner here in 2016 and 2017, was made to work harder in the second set on Manolo Santana but the world number one’s 6-0, 6-3 victory was never in doubt.

Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic will now await Halep in the last 16 as the Romanian continues to prepare for the French Open, where she has twice gone the distance only to finish runner-up.

Earlier, Petra Kvitova battled to a 6-3, 7-6 (10/8) victory over Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig to register her seventh consecutive win.

Kvitova’s hard-hitting game lends itself more to the faster surfaces but after lifting the title on clay in Prague at the weekend, she has maintained her momentum here and will meet Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit in round three.

Home favourite Garbine Muguruza staged a comeback from a set and a break down to beat Donna Vekic 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 and reach the third round for the first time in her career.

The two-time Grand Slam champion was in trouble when she dropped serve in the fifth game of the second set, but won 10 of the next 12 games to race to victory.

Dangerous Russian Daria Kasatkina awaits the world number three in the last 16 after a comfortable win over Sorana Cirstea. — AFP