Second seed Simona Halep produced a clinical display in her opening match at the Australian Open by sweeping aside wild card Lizette Cabrera.
The encounter was mainly one-way traffic for the Romanian who raced to a 6-2, 6-1, victory on the Rod Laver Arena against a player who had previously never faced anybody inside the world’s top 10. Halep’s power proved too much for Cabrera as she fired 13 winners and won 70% of her first service points. Making it the 25th main draw match she has won in Melbourne.
Halep, who is yet to win the Australian Open title, encountered her only blip whilst closing out the match. Serving with a 6-2, 5-0, lead a series of loose shots saw the underdog work her way to two break points. Cabrera converted on her second thanks to a forehand error from Halep. Despite the break of serve, the world No.2 secured victory in the following game by converting her first match point at the expense of a mistake coming from across the court.
“It feels great to be back here in Melbourne and playing the Australian Open. I have great memories and it is always a pleasure to come back,” Halep said during her on-court interview.
“Today was a good day. It was really tough to start the tournament after so long and when you play your opponent is always difficult.”
Heading into the Grand Slam there have been some concerns over Halep’s fitness after she admitted to a slight ‘block’ in her back. Last week at the Gippsland Trophy the 29-year-old lost in straight sets to Ekaterina Alexandrova but has now brushed aside any concerns over her fitness.
“I feel good,” she stated. “In Adelaide I played a match against Ash (Barty) and it was really good. Then I came here (to Melbourne) and played a few matches. My body is fit.”
The next test comes in the shape of another Australian called Ajla Tomljanović who beat Misaki Doi in her opening match. Halep leads the world No.69 3-0 in their head-to-head but two of their previous meetings have gone the full distance.
“It is always difficult to play a big hitter because Tomljanović is hitting very strong. So I have to be strong on my legs, focus on myself and to give my best,” Halep previewed.
The latest victory is Halep’s 97th in a Grand Slam main draw.
