No. 2 Seed Simona Halep Takes First Step Towards Title

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.