Simona Halep gets off to a winning start in Birmingham

Simona Halep won her first match on grass this year taking down Lesia Tsurenko in straight sets in Birmingham 6-1 6-4.

Halep looked quite sharp in her first match since her panic attack at Roland Garros despite some struggles in the 2nd set. Halep has been battling consistency issues all season long unable to keep matches in two sets or without oscillation. This match was similar in the sense that Halep allowed things to get shaky in the 2nd set but she was able to battle back and keep it in two.

It's a positive for her after all. She jumped out to a quick start against Tsurenko who struggled to match Halep's intensity. The Romanian player blasted winners left and right as she raced to a very quick 6-1 opening set win.

Tsurenko opened the 2nd set well with a 2-0 lead but lost her serve not long after that. She broke Halep once more for the 3-1 lead but Halep never gave up and battled back to a 3-3 score. From there she kept applying pressure and eventually found a breakthrough at 4-4 to make it 5-4. She then closed out the 2nd set with 6-4 to move on.

A good start for Halep despite some consistency woes once again.