Halep eases into Indian Wells 3rd round

Indian Wells - World number two Simona Halep cruised into the third round at Indian Wells on Friday with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Barbora Strycova.

Halep, who lifted the Indian Wells WTA trophy in 2015, improved to 5-0 against the Czech veteran, who has never taken a set from the Romanian.

Halep belted 18 winners and converted six of 11 reak point chances as she set up a third-round meeting with Ukrainian qualifier Kateryna Kozlova, a 6-4, 2-6, 6-0 winner over 31st-seeded Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus.

Halep and Strycova traded four breaks of serve as the second set moved to 4-4.

After Halep held for a 5-4 lead she broke Strycova in the final game, pocketing the win on her second match point.

She was pleased with the start, in windy, increasingly chilly conditions.

"It was pretty difficult in the end," Halep said. "We got cold, both of us.

"It was not easy to play, but I felt good. I think I played good tennis today and, for the first match here, I'm happy about it."

Results on Friday in the BNP Paribas Open WTA and ATP Masters hardcourt tournament (x-denotes seeded player):

Men

1st rd

Hubert Hurkacz (POL) bt Donald Young (USA) 6-3, 6-3

Steve Johnson (USA) bt Taylor Fritz (USA) 6-3, 6-3

Dusan Lajovic (SRB) bt Taro Daniel (JPN) 7-6 (8/6), 6-4

Radu Albot (MDA) bt Marius Copil (ROM) 6-2, 6-2

Stan Wawrinka (SUI) bt Daniel Evans (GBR) 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-3

Peter Gojowczyk (GER) bt Andreas Seppi (ITA) 7-5, 6-4

Alexei Popyrin (AUS) bt Jaume Munar (ESP) 7-6 (9/7), 6-3

Alex Bolt (AUS) bt Ernests Gulbis (LAT) 6-3, 5-7, 6-2

Robin Haase (NED) bt Denis Istomin (UZB) 7-6 (7/2), 6-1

Feliciano Lopez (ESP) bt Tomas Berdych (CZE) 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/2)

Filip Krajinovic (SRB) bt Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) 6-3, 6-4

Women

2nd rd

Johanna Konta (GBR) bt Hsieh Su-Wei (TPE x27) 6-0, 6-2

Garbine Muguruza (ESP x20) bt Lauren Davis (USA) 6-1, 6-3

Stefanie Voegele (SUI) bt Sloane Stephens (USA x4) 6-3, 6-0

Wang Qiang (CHN x18) bt Bernarda Pera (USA) 7-6 (7/5), 6-2

Daria Gavrilova (AUS) bt Mihaela Buzarnescu (ROM x29) 6-2, 6-2

Jennifer Brady (USA) bt Caroline Garcia (FRA x19) 6-3, 3-6, 6-0

Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) bt Daria Kasatkina (RUS x14) 6-2, 6-1

Jelena Ostapenko (LAT x22) bt Zhang Shuai (CHN) 6-2, 6-1

Kateryna Kozlova (UKR) bt Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR x31) 6-4, 2-6, 6-0

Simona Halep (ROU x2) bt Barbora Strycova (CZE) 6-2, 6-4