Simona Halep edged past a tough Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-3 4-6 6-2 to reach the third round at Wimbledon.
The 2018 Roland Garros champion had to dig in deep against a tough Mihaela Buzarnescu but found an extra gear to gain the win.
It was a very good second set from Buzarnescu as she tested Halep with power and slice however she couldn’t maintain her level in the end.
Next up for the 7th seed is a mouth-watering clash with Victoria Azarenka, who only lost two games against Ajla Tomljanovic today.
Both players failed to dominate on serve in the early stages of the match as Halep used her flat and powerful groundstrokes to good effect throughout the set.
After a run of four consecutive breaks of serve in the middle of the opening set, it was the higher ranked Romanian who adjusted the better on serve.
Some good serving and patterns gave Halep the 5-3 lead as she soon secured her fourth break to seal the opening set in 30 minutes.
The world number 53 needed to change her approach to the match because clearly the serve was not working after being broken at the start of the second set.
However to Buzarnescu’s credit, she did figure a way back into the match as there were more unforced errors coming out of Halep’s game.
Some big backhands allowed her to play the high percentage points more often and started to reel off four games in a row against a frustrated Halep.
There was also a calmness to Buzarnescu now as despite being broken back, had the composure to find a way to break the former world number one again for a 5-4 lead.
That composure helped the former top 20 player seal the second set to level the match up at one set all.
Even though Halep started off fast again in the first set, the 7th seed couldn’t keep the unforced error count down as Buzarnescu continued to rip winners and close the gap from 3-0 to 3-2.
But last year’s Roland Garros champion could rely on her consistency and experience as she was determined to grind the match out.
As the set went on, the shots became harder and heavier as she battered the ball around the court until Buzarnescu ran out of energy.
Now that's how to do it!
Simona Halep wins the battle of the Romanians, beating Buzarnescu 6-3 4-6 6-2 #wimbledon #bbctennis pic.twitter.com/mj64xCyUZF
— BBC Tennis (@bbctennis) July 3, 2019
A streak of three games clinched the match and set up a thrilling last 32 tie with two-time grand slam champion Victoria Azarenka.
Though, Halep will need to up her level on Friday after the Belarusian only dropped three games in singles and doubles today.
