"I was scared of her dropshots" - Halep on her victory over Vondrousova

Making her long-awaited clay-court debut on Thursday, Simona Halep breezed past Marketa Vondrousova to secure her spot in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix quarterfinals.

The second seed needed just 56 minutes to defeat the 2019 Roland Garros runner-up, showing her dominance with a 6-1 6-3 victory.

"Starting the clay court season makes me very happy and motivated, extra motivated actually," Halep said after match. "I missed playing matches. I had a few weeks without an official match and it was kind of tough when I started the match, but my mind was strong enough just to give focus on what I have to play. So, I did it great and today, it was a great match."

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Prior to Thursday's encounter, Vondrousova held a 2-0 career lead over Halep. However, the World No.3 dictated play throughout their round of 16 match, without ever facing a break point.

"I was a little bit nervous before the match because I played twice against her and she beat me every time," Halep admitted. "I was a little bit scared of her dropshots, so coach Darren Cahill told me that I have to be more aggressive today, which I did, I did it well."

Awaiting Halep in the quarterfinals in Ekaterina Alexandrova, who upset eighth seed Belinda Bencic in straight sets.