Halep takes just 44 minutes to dismantle Viktoria Kuzmova in brutal fashion
Thursday 9 May 2019 11:24, UK
Simona Halep dished out a dreaded double bagel on her way to the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open.
World No 3 Halep, a two-time winner of the tournament, dismantled Viktoria Kuzmova 6-0 6-0, with the 20-year-old Slovak winning just 12 points.
"I played nearly perfect today," Romanian Halep is quoted as saying by the WTA website. "I think it was the best match that I have ever had."
Halep, the reigning French Open champion, will face Australian Ashleigh Barty, a 4-6 6-1 6-2 winner over Yulia Putintseva, in the last eight.
World No 1 Naomi Osaka swept past Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 6-2 6-3, while last year's runner-up Kiki Bertens thumped 12th seed Anastasija Sevastova 6-1 6-2.
Osaka, of Japan, will meet Switzerland's Belinda Bencic in the quarter-finals.
"I think I played well today. But I knew that I had to because I've played her twice before already and it was on hard court and then I didn't know what to expect today so I tried to stay as focused as I could," Osaka said.
"I'm in a really good place right now. I feel like I'm having fun playing tennis again which is always a good thing and I always play well if I have that mentality."
Second seed Petra Kvitova, the defending champion, got the better of Caroline Garcia 6-3 6-3 and Sloane Stephens recovered from dropping the opening set to beat Saisai Zheng in three.
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