Simona Halep (30 years old, 20 WTA) reached the second round of the WTA 250 category tournament in Birmingham , after a victory with Lesia Tsurenko (33 years old, 116 WTA), score 6-1, 6-4 .
In the second round of the tournament, which can be watched on Digi Sport channels, Simona Halep will duel with the British Harriet Dart (25 years old, 106 WTA). On Tuesday, Simona decided to play in the doubles event at this tournament.
Simona Halep, after saying that she has never played with Harriet Dart: “She is doing great”
After the victory with Tsurenko, Simona Halep declared that she had not played against Harriet Dart again, but this actually happened two and a half years ago, at the Australian Open, when Simona Halep prevailed in straight sets , 6 -2, 6-4.
At the press conference, Simona Halep said that she has been watching Harriet Dart lately and expects the second round match in Birmingham to be quite a tough game.
” I’ve seen her play lately. He’s doing great so it’s going to be tough. On grass it’s different, everything is different, and she’s used to this surface, she’s from here, so it’s going to be a big challenge for me. But I’m here to play as well as possible and give my best ,” Simona Halep said at the press conference.
Harriet Dart, like Simona Halep, needed three sets to reach the second round in Birmingham. In her debut, she defeated Camila Osorio, 6-2, 6-0.
Simona Halep, return after three years on grass
The match with Lesia Tsurenko was the first played by Simona Halep on grass after almost three years. The previous one was at Wimbledon 2019, the dream final with Serena Williams, won 6-2, 6-2.
The long break was not seen, however, in the game of Simona Halep, who controlled the game with Lesia Tsurenko and prevailed after only one hour and 19 minutes.
