No.5 seed Simona Halep safely moved into the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup with a straight-set victory over big-serving Karolina Pliskova. It took the Romanian only sixty-seven minutes to finish the match against the WTA leader in aces.
The first set was closer than the score indicates, while in the second set Pliskova became more aggressive to get back to 2-2. Halep then raised her game to close up the set, losing only one more game before winning the match 6-3 6-3.
Halep was very aggressive throughout the match. The level of play was excellent from both players, but Halep was able to make the difference by winning the important points, hitting 22 winners to just nine unforced errors.
“I’m happy that I won today. It’s nice to be in the quarterfinals again, a second year in a row,” last year’s runner-up Halep said after the match. “I enjoy my time here and I’m looking forward to the next round already”.
Halep’s quarterfinal opponent will be Svetlana Kuznetsova, who eliminated Petra Kvitova 7-6(2) 6-3.
