Halep sees off Safarova with ease to progress at Flushing Meadows

Fifth-seeded Simona Halep beat 2015 French Open runner-up Lucie Safarova in straight sets to move into the third round of the US Open.

Halep won 6-3, 6-4 under the roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium yesterday. On a rainy morning, the new roof was closed at the start of a match for the first time after it made its debut in the middle of Rafael Nadal’s win on Wednesday night.

Halep said in her on-court interview that she liked the calm conditions of playing indoors but she was “a little bit cold”. She added later that it was nice to not need to wait out a rain delay.

Play was suspended on the outer courts because of a downpour.

Earlier in the day, the US Tennis Association announced that a spectator had been arrested by police after he jumped over a wall surrounding a US Open court at the end of a match.

USTA spokesman Chris Widmaier said the man got on to Court 13 after Kateryna Bondarenko’s 5-7, 7-6 (5), 7-5 victory over Zheng Saisai, the last match at that court on Wednesday night.

Two tournament security guards moved the man away from Bondarenko, and he then was handcuffed and arrested by police, according to Widmaier, who added that neither player was harmed.

He said the spectator was charged with interference in a sporting event and was issued with a ten-year no trespassing order by the USTA.

Widmaier called it “always very disappointing when some knucklehead behaves in this way”.