Simona Halep wins Romanian clash against Cirstea in Indian Wells

Simona Halep played yet another good match in Indian Wells, this time around defeating her compatriot Sorana Cirstea 6-1 6-4.

Indian Wells is shaping up to be the best event Halep has played all year long and it's very good to see. She had quite a few issues early on in the season not being able to adjust to players who found ways to eliminate her major threats. Some blamed it on a lack of coach and this week Halep is working with coaches again and it seemed to have paid off.

Cirstea and Halep know each other well and have practiced recently a couple of times as per Halep. That familiarity with each other's game worked in Halep's favour as she came out on fire in the first set. She was ready for everything her opponent tried and quickly raced to a 6-1 finish in the first set.

The 2nd set opened much better for Cirstea who took a 2-0 lead early on but she was not able to hold it for too long. Halep battled back swiftly to make it 2-2 after which the players continued to trade blows. Neither one of them was able to generate much pressure on return and a couple of games passed. Eventually, Halep did fight her way towards a break point.

She eventually used the 2nd one to win the match and move on 6-1 6-4.