Halep and Sharapova Both Advance in Paris
World number one and two-time French Open champ Simona Halep defeated American Taylor Townsend, a wild card entrant into the draw, on Thursday, 6-3, 6-1, to move into the third round at Roland Garros.
It marked Halep’s second consecutive day on the court having had her match against another American, Alison Riske, postponed.
“It was really tough, even if the score looked pretty easy,” said Halep. “Her balls were really tough to return because of the topspin and the forehand, so I couldn’t return my best way. She was defending my short cross with the backhand so well … she mixes everything, and it’s really tough to find one rhythm.”
Up next for Halep is world number nine, Andrea Petkovic, a 6-0, 7-6 winner over American Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Halep holds a 7-1 career record over Petkovic. One of those victories was in 2014 in the semifinals of the French Open, a 6-2, 7-6(4) win by Halep en route to a finals loss against Maria Sharapova.
Sharapova, the 28th seed, also advanced to round three on Thursday, a 7-5, 6-4 winner over Donna Vekic. Sharapova, a two-time champ in 2012 and 2014, moves into round three for the 13th time in her career.
Up next for Sharapova is the sixth-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 winner Thursday over Lucie Safarova.
“She’s a big champion, so she’s going to play well,” said Pliskova of Sharapova. “I know she’s just going for her shots always, putting full speed in the forehand, backhand, serve. But she can also give you a lot of free points, double faults. She has lot of reasons to win, so it’s going to be tough.”
Sharapova holds a 1-0 career lead over Pliskova, a 6-3, 6-4 win in 2015 in Fed Cup play.
