Simona Halep eased past Ekaterina Makarova 6-3 6-0 in her first match since the Australian Open Final to reach the third round in Doha.
The Romanian looked in her comfort zone from the very start as she raced to a 5-1 lead in the first set. Makarova couldn’t get to grips with Halep’s game as the Russian’s backhand was erratic and wild. Despite getting one of the two breaks back and having break point in the ninth game, the world number 36 eventually surrendered to the world number two losing the first set 6-3.
The two time grand slam finalist continued her momentum as she used her backhand to move Makarova around the court and force errors out of the Russian. Halep continued to wear down her opponent and three breaks later the Romanian secured victory and comfortably booked her place into the third round in Doha.
Halep is looking to gain back her world number one spot this week after losing it to Caroline Wozniacki at the Australian Open and this is a good start in achieving this goal. Next up for the Romanian is Anastasija Sevastova, who completed a 6-4 6-1 victory over talented youngster Naomi Osaka. The world number 15 only lost 11 points on her first serve as she comfortably secured victory.
Kvitova Survives Thriller
Petra Kvitova also advanced to the third round in Doha however it was by no means easy against a stubborn Agnieszka Radwanska. The world number 21 completed a 6-7(3) 6-3 6-4 victory over the Pole in 2 hours and 35 minutes. There were 12 breaks of serve in the match as the Czech Republican managed to save three break points in the last game to close out the contest.
The 15th seed will need to improve in her third round match tomorrow when she takes on third seed Elina Svitolina. The Ukrainian dominated on return as she dominated 18 year old Marketa Vondrousova, 6-2 6-4 in 68 minutes. Svitolina is looking for her second title of the season after winning the Brisbane in the first week of the season.
