Halep rolls past compatriot Ruse in Cluj-Napoca

Simona Halep is back to winning ways in her native country of Romania, besting compatriot Ruse in Cluj-Napoca.

It's been a difficult season for Halep to endure but the Romanian is hoping to end it on a high note at home in Romania. Playing her compatriot Ruse in her first match back was special for Halep and she was sensational. Similar to Halep, Ruse enjoys playing a very aggressive, hard-hitting style. In a clash of players with that type of style usually, the more consistent one proves better.

Today it was Halep and by a mile. From the start, she was hitting the ball more cleanly and with more precision. Ruse was also prone to the occasional error and two and that was more than enough for Halep to rack up games rather quickly. She finished off the first set with 6-1.

In the 2nd set Halep's game got a bit worse but luckily for her Ruse's did too. The younger Romanian struggled to get her first serve into the court and when she missed it, Halep would attack her 2nd immediately. That is why Ruse won less than 40 % of her 2nd serves. She tried to hang in the match for a while but it did not help.

Halep was too good from the baseline and she once again smashed Ruse. The score was 6-2 and with that Halep is one step closer to winning a title in her native country of Romanian. That last happened in 2016 and she is highly motivated to finally find a breakthrough again.