BEIJING: World number two Simona Halep beat Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-2 in the China Open third round on Wednesday for her first win over the Russian in eight attempts.

Halep, who lost to Sharapova in the first round of the US Open, won five out of nine break points and took advantage of an error-prone display to hand the Russian her first straight-sets defeat of the season in one hour and 12 minutes.

Despite hitting more winners than her rival, Sharapova committed 39 unforced errors and struggled to contend with the second seed’s power and aggression in Beijing.

“First of all, I think she played an incredible match, probably the best she’s played against me in all of our previous meetings,” said Sharapova, who is still rebuilding her game after serving a doping suspension. “And I wasn’t as sharp. I wasn’t seeing the ball as well. I wasn’t moving up and down as well as I have been against her.”

Halep, the second seed on Beijing’s outdoor hard courts, is the first woman into the quarter-finals, where she will next play another Russian, Daria Kasatkina.

The unseeded Kasatkina, 20, stunned defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska in the final match of the day, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.

French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia took one step closer to qualifying for the season-ending WTA Finals in Singapore with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Australia’s Samantha Stosur in round two.

Also advancing to the third round were China’s Peng Shuai, who made short work of Romanian Monica Niculescu with a 6-3, 6-2 win, and Wuhan Open champion Caroline Garcia of France who overcame Belgian Elise Mertens 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.

Ukrainian Elina Svitolina then defeated Australia’s Ashleigh Barty 6-4, 6-2 in the second round to set up a clash with Russia’s Elena Vesnina.

On the men’s side, Grigor Dimitrov powered past US Open semi-finalist Juan Martin del Potro 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 to book his spot in the quarter-finals.

Earlier, Nick Kyrgios came from a set down to beat Mischa Zverev 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. The Australian unleashed 11 aces in the match lasting an hour and 22 minutes.

Up next for Kyrgios is Steve Darcis of Belgium, who overcame Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic 6-3 6-4. Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut went through after Great Britain’s Aljaz Bedene lost 10 games in a row before retiring with a knee problem.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2017