Romanian tennis star Simona Halep, currently second in the WTA ranking of the best women’s tennis players in the world, moved to the second round of the US Open, after a win against New Zeeland’s Marina Erakovic. The match ended 6-2, 2-0, as Erakovic withdrew in the second set due to an injury.

In the second round, Simona Halep will meet Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko, who is currently number 104 in the WTA ranking.

Halep’s path to the semifinals of the US Open just got a bit easier, as three of the top seeded players in her quarter of the draw were eliminated in the first round. Czech Lucie Safarova, the tournament’s sixth favorite, lost to Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko (no. 37 WTA) while Swiss Timea Bacsinszky, the tournament’s 14 seed, succumbed to Czech Barbora Strycova (no. 42 WTA).

French player Alize Cornet, who eliminated Halep in the first round of the Madrid Mutua Open in May this year, also lost in the first round.

Simona Halep is one of the favorites of this year’s US Open, where she might again meet the world’s number one Serena Williams in the final.

After her victory in the first round, Halep said she came confident to US Open, but without high expectations. “I feel much better than I felt at other Grand Slam tournaments,” she said.

Helep’s best result at the US Open was reaching the last sixteen, in 2013.

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editor@romania-insider.com