Friday, March 8, 2019 - Simona Halep plays Barbora Strycova in the 2nd round of the BNP Paribas Open in Stadium 2 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California. (Kathryn Riley/BNP Paribas Open)
Simona Halep, the 2015 BNP Paribas Open champion and world No. 2, took her first step towards claiming her second trophy in the desert today with a swift victory over Barbora Strycova.
Strycova was unable to pose a threat at any point throughout the contest, and looked overmatched against a locked-in Halep who was firing on all cylinders. In under an hour and a half, Halep advanced to the third round with a 6-2, 6-4 victory.
In front of a friendly crowd of Romanian supporters, Halep capitalized on (6/11) 55% of her break point opportunities and controlled the pace throughout the match to quell the Czech’s hopes of a massive first round upset.
Halep will continue her road to the title when she next faces off against Kateryna Kozlova in third round action.