Simona Halep faced a determined and skilled opponent in Dayana Yastremska, but the Romanian’s experience, mastery and a generous amount of luck gave her a passage into the quarterfinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia with a 7-5 6-4 victory.
The world No.29 Yastremska opened her first ever meeting with Halep with a confident 3-0 lead, but that advantage dissipated as the top seed surged back and even won ten points in a row during the stretch. At 5-5, as the set was coming to a close, Yastremska opened her service game with a double fault, allowing herself to feel vulnerable and a string of errors followed as Halep recorded a crucial break. The Romanian wasted no time to hold serve in the following game, sealing the set with an ace.
In the second set, Halep comfortably went a double break up for a 3-0 lead. The 20-year-old Ukrainian did manage to get one break back and fought mightily until the very end, but she simply didn’t have the edge against superior Halep in today’s third-round match.
The 28-year-old Halep has extended her winning streak to 11 matches, as she won the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships prior to the coronavirus hiatus and the Prague Open on her first tournament back.
