Simona Halep officially returned to the courts today in a matchup against Jasmine Paolini whom she defeated in straight even though the performance was far from perfect. Simona Halep is through to the next round in straight sets which is a satisfying result for her but her performance won't make her very happy.

As the title suggests we saw many breakpoints and breaks in general as both player's struggled to maintain their serve. That trend continued throughout the match as the 1st set had 6 breaks which is the same number the 2nd set had but this time they were consecutive.

In all of that madness, it was Halep who mad more control and ultimately emerged victorious. What proved key for her in the 1st set which she won with 6-3 was that she was better on her 1st serve 65 % to 55 % and 2nd serve 25 % to 17 %. The margins weren't too different but they proved key.

The 2nd set was even madder as we saw 6 consecutive breaks. Every time Paolini found a way to take the lead she would immediately lose it in the next game. Again, Halep was better on both her serves which allowed her to win the 2nd set 6-4. She proved better and calmer in crucial points and she overcame very noticeable struggles on her own serve. It's a win she'll take but a performance she will probably want to forger.

https://twitter.com/WTA/status/1306202808090152960