Simona Halep defeats Elena Ruse in Dubai

Simona Halep moves on at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after defeating Elena Ruse in straight sets 6-3 6-2.

The win comes after another strong performance by Halep who is looking very sharp in Dubai. Her level is much higher than she showed in Melbourne although the opponent was the same. About a month after defeating Ruse in Australia, Halep did it again. The Romanian derby was not a close one as Halep took an early break and she never looked back.

Ruse plays a very aggressive playstyle but it doesn't work that well against Halep. Simona covers the court really well and her ability to attack the counter leaves Ruse without many chances in rallies. Halep did not serve too well but she was very solid on both her first and second serve. Ruse on the other hand had many issues on her 2nd serve and Halep exploited that.

The first set was won with 6-3 as Halep finished it off with another break. Ruse did break Halep once in the first set but she found herself on the broken side three times and that was simply too much. The start of the 2nd set featured Halep taking an early lead once more. She was up 3-0 and never looked back in this game although Ruse did come close to breaking her several times.

Halep finished it off with 6-2 for the spot in the quarterfinals. It remains to be seen whether she can go all the way but so far her level has been really good.