Second seed Simona Halep won her second round match at the Birmingham Classic on Wednesday. The former world No. 1 delivered a 6-3, 6-2 win over Britain’s Harriet Dart in 62 minutes.
Halep won 84% of her points on first serve versus Dart’s 61% and 76% of her points on second serve versus Dart’s 35%. Halep lost her serve once, but also converted four of the five break points she had on her opponent’s serve.
In the quarter-finals, the Romanian meets Katie Boulter, who is also from the UK.
Birmingham Classic: The dominance of the Romanians
Boulter defeated France’s Caroline Garcia in their round of 16 match 7-6(5), 6-1 in an hour and 31 minutes.
Garcia won more points on first serve compared to Boulter – 81% to the latter’s 72%, but where Boulter won 51% of her points on second serve, Garcia was only able to win 38%. Boulter saved two of the three break points she faced while converting all three break points on Garcia’s serve.
Sixth-seeded Sorana Cirstea also earned her spot in the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Aleksandra Krunic in their second-round match. The Romanian needed 72 minutes to win the match.
Cirstea won 90% of her points on first serve against the Serb’s 50% and 50% of her points on the second serve against the Serb’s 40%. Cirstea saved the only break point she faced while converting five break points on Krunic’s serve.
Next, the world No. 36 plays Donna Vekic. The Croatian prevailed over Cathy McNally in their second-round match 7-5, 6-3 in an hour and 40 minutes. At the Birmingham Classic, the last two first-round matches, which had to be postponed to Wednesday, were also ended.
Third-seeded Camila Giorgi beat Tereza Martincova 7-6 (7), 6-4 and will play Lauren Davis for a place in the quarterfinals. Eighth-seeded Shuai Zhang delivered a 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 comeback win over Jana Fett. Next, the Chinese will play against Elena-Gabriela Ruse. Photo credit: Romanian Tennis Twitter
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