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Simona Halep knocks error-prone Maria Sharapova out of China Open
Simona Halep recorded her first victory over Maria Sharapova and advanced to the China Open quarter-finals with a 6-2, 6-2 win.
World No. 2 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 U.S. 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.
(Read | China Open tennis: Sania Mirza, enter quarters; Rohan Bopanna moves up too)
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.
The Romanian goes through to the quarter-finals where she will take on either 11th seed Agnieszka Radwanska or Daria Kasatkina, who face off later on Wednesday.
(Read | Dan Evans, British tennis player, banned for a year after failing dope test)
Ostapenko advances
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(4) 6-4.
