Simona Halep defeated Venus Williams to move in the final 16 at Australian Open

Simona Halep, the world’s number one, qualified without any problems in the final 16 of the Australian Open tournament, the first Grand Slam of the Year, after defeating the American Venus Williams with 6-2, 6-3.

Halep (27 years old), who in the first two rounds won with difficulty in three sets, made his best match and won in an hour and 17 minutes.

Last year’s Melbourne finalist dominated the game and will face Serena Williams, the sister of Venus, in the next round.

The start of the match was quite balanced, but at 2-2 he managed a very important break and then saved four balls to break, finishing the first set with a 6-2 second. Halep started the second act with a break, but then Venus (38, 36 WTA) came back and recovered. The two went head-to head to 3-3, when Halep accelerated and took advantage of the errors made by the opponent, deciding decisively in a set that he won by 6-3.

Halep managed 2 aces, and Venus 5, Halep made 2 double mistakes, and Williams 4. Simona Halep had higher percentages for both services, 67 percent -58 percent for the first and 63 percent -31 percent for the second, was and 5/10 (50 percent) vs. 1/6 (17 percent). Williams had several direct winning balls, 24-21, but more unforced errors, 33-12.

Halep has secured a check of AUS 260,000 (Australian dollars) and 240 WTA points. Halep and Serena (37, 16 WTA) have met so far nine times, the American winning eight. Simone’s only success, one with a 6-0, 6-2, was at the Championship Tournament in 2014. The last confrontation between the two took place in 2016 at the US Open, when Serena was in the quarter with 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

On Saturday, Serena Williams defeated Daiana Iastremska (Ukraine) with 6-2, 6-1 in the third round.