Indian Wells 2022 – Simona Halep crushes Sorana Cirstea to surge into the last eight of the BNP Paribas Open
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Updated 15/03/2022 at 22:11 GMT
Simona Halep followed up her eye-catching win over Coco Gauff with a 6-1 6-4 victory over her compatriot Sorana Cirstea in a round four battle between the top two Romanians on the WTA Tour. The two-time Grand Slam champion will take on Petra Martic in the last eight with the former world number one looking sharp since linking up with coach Morgan Bourbon.
Simona Halep of Romania hits a forehand at Indian Wells
Image credit: Getty Images
Simona Halep wasted little time racing into the BNP Paribas Open quarter finals thanks to a straight sets destruction of Sorana Cirstea.
The two-time Grand Slam champion saw off the challenge of her fellow Romanian as she rampaged to a 6-1 6-4 victory in just one hour and 23 minutes.
Halep will now meet Petra Martic in the last eight after the Croatian defeated Liudmila Samsonova 7-6 6-4.
“I tried to play my best today but it was not an easy match,” she said during a post-match interview on court.
“It is tough to play another Romanian but I tried to treat it as a normal match. Even when I was broken in the second set, I felt my return was pretty strong. I was confident to the end of the match and that’s why I could finish it in two sets.”
Fresh from an impressive triumph over USA starlet Coco Gauff in round three, Halep got straight down to business in what proved to be a very one-sided opener in the battle between the top two Romanians on the WTA Tour.
Cirstea led the match-up 2-1 coming into the encounter but she lacked composure and cut a forlorn figure early on as an error-strewn opening service game saw her broken all too easily.
Halep saved a break point to consolidate from deuce before breaking to love to leave those watching inside Stadium 1 sensing there was already an air of inevitability over the outcome of the set. Cirstea did eventually get on the board but was broken for a third time soon after as the former world number one raced through the opener in just 32 minutes.
The Romanian world number two had clocked up 14 unforced errors to Halep’s four but reset in Set 2 to take full advantage of a sudden and unexpected dip from the eight-time WTA 1000 winner.
Cirstea played with more clarity and backed up an early break to lead 2-0 before pushing her compatriot to dig out a gritty and lengthy hold from deuce.
It proved to be a significant moment for Halep, who is already seeing positive outcomes from her fledgling alliance with coach Morgan Bourbon.
The 2015 Indian Wells champion broke back with a much more intense return game and then clung on by saving three break points to nudge the scoreboard in her favour.
Cirstea was having more joy attacking Halep’s timid second serve but was left ruing her inability to make it count with just one of five break points converted.
Halep was demonstrating two sides of her game with a dominant, big-hitting opener backed up by a determined show of resilience in a much tighter finale.
The 30-year-old upped the ante at the business end with one of her best holds of the match before breaking in the 10th game on a second match point after Cirstea lashed a shot into the tramlines.
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