Simona Halep begins defence of Madrid Open title in style as she chases history
Simona Halep made a solid start to the defence of her Madrid Open title as she looks to become the first player in history to win the event three years on the bounce.
The world No. 1 raced past Ekaterina Makarova 6-1 6-0 in just 51 minutes to extend her winning streak at the Caja Magica to 13 matches.
Her win ensured that world No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki will now have to reach the final to have any chance of overtaking her on the WTA leaderboard.
For Makarova, it was a familiar story. The Russian fell at the first hurdle for the fourth time in her past five appearances in the Spanish capital, no doubt ruing the draw on this occasion.
Halep got off to a flying start, breaking for a 2-0 lead, but Makarova pegged her back.
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Unfazed, the Romanian struck once more to move 3-1 up before breaking again to storm to a one-set lead in little over 20 minutes.
By the half hour mark, Halep was a set and a break up and she didnt lose another game as she bagelled her opponent to move into the next round.
Elsewhere in Madrid, Sam Stosur, Monica Puig and Sorana Cirstea all booked their places in round two.
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