Halep races past Riske in Dubai, moves to R2

Simona Halep played her first match since the Australian Open and she raced past Alison Riske in straight sets 6-2 6-4.

Simona Halep disappointed at the Australian by losing to tournament surprise Alize Cornet. Halep took a positive stance after the match admitting that it was disappointing but she was looking at the positives. In her first match since the Australian Open, Halep looked amazing on the court easily beating Alison Riske in straight sets.

The first set was an interesting one as it opened with quite dominant first games for both players. Halep continued on serving rather well and playing well. She was much better than Riske in rallies even if the American could hold her own if she hit her first serve. When she failed to do that, she was in big trouble as Halep won 6 of 8 points on her serve.

The first set ended with 6-2 for Halep and it opened in a similar fashion. She took an early break 2-1 but faced her first break points in the match in the next game. Riske had two but failed to convert either and Halep was able to go up 3-1. Halep held her serve for the rest of the match closing it out with 6-4.