Simona Halep starts her Cincinnati campaign in great fashion after she demolishes Taylor Townsend 6-4 6-1. The American is always a tough customer as you’ll never know how she is going to show up on a given day.

Eventually, Simona had to battle hard after a slow start as she was trailing on a 2-4 scoreline. Finally, the world no.2 conquered 10 of the following 11 games to win the contest 6-4 6-1 after 66 minutes.

Next vs. Sevastova

Simona will face Anastasija Sevastova in the second round. The head to head is 4-2 for Simona.