Simona Halep (30 years old, 20th WTA place) made her debut in the Birmingham tournament on Monday, against Lesia Tsurenko (33 years old, 116th WTA place), in a match that ended with the Romanian’s victory, score 6-1, 6 -4, LIVE on Digi Sport 2 and LIVE TEXT and VIDEO on digisport.ro.
Simona Halep played a perfect first set against the Ukrainian, in which Tsurenko managed to win a single game against the Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion, who instead had two successful breaks.
The second set was much more balanced. Tsurenko played much more offensively and gave Simona Halep some trouble. However, the Romanian managed to resist and recovered every break succeeded by her opponent.
The match ended 6-1, 6-4 after an hour and 20 minutes of play. The Ukrainian player asked during the second set for permission to go to the locker room and receive medical attention, which is why the match was interrupted for several minutes.
In the second round, Simona Halep will duel with Harriet Dart (106 WTA), the one who defeated Camila Osorio in the first round with a score of 6-2, 6-0.
At the tournament in Birmingham, Simona Halep will also play in the doubles event, where she will pair up with Donna Vekic, against the players Latisha Chan and Samantha Stosur.
Simona Halep – Lesia Tsurenko 6-1, 6-4
UPDATE 17:57 : Simona Halep – Lesia Tsurenko 6-1, 6-4. Game, set, match!
UPDATE 17:54 : Simona Halep – Lesia Tsurenko 6-1, 5-4. Our player manages to break at an important moment and is one game away from victory.
