Melbourne - World
number one Simona Halep eased into the quarter-finals of the Australian
Open Monday with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over unseeded Naomi Osaka of Japan
in 81 minutes.
"I'm really happy that I'm back in the quarter-finals," said the
Romanian, who last made it this far in 2015 and has been nursing a
troublesome ankle that she rolled in her first-round match.
"The injury is still there. I feel it but I'm trying not to think about it and give it everything."
Halep was delighted to be on court for 143 minutes less than her
previous match against Lauren Davis, which at 3 hours and 44 minutes was the longest
of the tournament.
"Actually, this tournament looks like a marathon for me," she said,
after spending almost nine hours on court so far, more than any other
player.
"I'm really proud I could stay focused and make every point very focused and concentrated."
The big-hitting Osaka had her chances, notably in the fifth game of
the first set when she squandered five points to break the Halep serve.
The Romanian compounded Osaka's disappointment immediately with a break
of her own.
She served out to take the set in 42 minutes and immediately broke the Japanese player again to start the second.
The players matched each other with 22 winners apiece but Osaka's 31
unforced errors ultimately proved her downfall against the consistent
Halep.
The top seed is guaranteed to meet a Czech opponent for a place in
the semi-finals, either sixth seed Karolina Pliskova or Barbora
Strycova, the 20th seed, who play later.
Results from the Australian Open on Monday:
Men's singles
4th round
Tomas Berdych (CZE x19) bt Fabio Fognini (ITA x25) 6-1, 6-4, 6-4
Roger Federer (SUI x2) bt Marton Fucsovics (HUN) 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2
Women's singles
4th round
Madison Keys (USA x17) by Caroline Garcia (FRA x8) 6-3, 6-2
Angelique Kerber (GER x21) bt Hsieh Su-wei (TPE) 4-6, 7-5, 6-2