Romanian tennis star Simona Halep showcased a rich vein of form as she eased past Rebecca Peterson of Sweden in straight sets to book her place in the second round of the China Open in Beijing on Sunday.
Halep, who was recently forced to retire from the Wuhan Open due to a chronic back problem, hardly broke a sweat en route to her comfortable 6-1, 6-1 triumph over her Swedish opponent in a one-sided opening round clash that lasted one hour and 11 minutes.
Earlier, the two-time Grand Slam champion was forced to withdraw from the Wuhan Open owing to a back injury during the opening set of the round-of-16 clash against Russia’s Elena Rybakina.
Elsewhere, American tennis star Venus Williams suffered a major blow as she knocked out of the tournament after going down against Barbora Strycova of Czech Republic in the first round of the women’s singles event.
After comfortably winning the opening set, the former world number one failed to continue her winning momentum and went down fighting 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 against Strycova in the encounter that lasted two hours and 31 minutes.
Williams will now square off with Swiss tennis star Belinda Bencic for a place in the third round of the tournament.
Source: Zee News