Number 5 seed Simona Halep beat Kirsten Flipkens 6-0 6-2 to cruise into the second round the second round at the US Open.
Halep won their previous head-to-head matches without dropping a single set. Halep got an early break in the first game to race out to a 5-0 lead. The Romanian player had to save the first break points but closed out the first set with a bagel win in just 24 minutes. Halep converted all her three break point opportunities. The Belgian player, who reached the Wimbledon semifinal in 2013, won just five points on serve.
Halep broke Flipkens three times in the second set. The Belgian player got one of the three breaks back to avoid the double bagel at 6-0 5-0 but Halep closed out the second set 6-2 to set up a second round match against former world number 5 Lucie Safarova, who beat Daria Gavrilova 6-4 6-4.
Halep hit 22 winners to Flipkens’11 and won 80 percent of the points at the net. The former world number 2 converted six of her ten break points.
“It was a tough match, because for me the first round of a tournament is always tough. I started pretty well. I played my game today. I had enough time to do what I wanted. I played pretty well until the end, but sometimes, even if you have experience tiu are too nervous to finish the match. I just tried to stay focused”, said Halep
