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By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, May 8, 2018

 
Simona Halep

Reigning champion Simona Halep won eight straight games sparking a 6-0, 6-3, sweep of Elise Mertens to score her 14th consecutive Madrid win.

Photo credit: Mutua Madrid Open Facebook

Winning on dirt requires work.

Simona Halep continues to make clean sweeps look effortless.

Watch: Is Maria Sharapova Reloading or Regressing?

The two-time defending champion extended one streak and extinguished another eliminating Elise Mertens, 6-0, 6-3, to surge into the Mutua Madrid Open round of 16.

The world No. 1 stretched her Madrid winning streak to 14 matches, while snapping Mertens' 13-match winning streak that included title runs in Logano and Rabat.

Overpowered by CoCo Vandeweghe in Stuttgart last month, Halep arrived in Madrid intent on making a statement—and retaining her world No. 1 ranking.

Varying the height and spins of her shots, Halep has been overwhelming in a victory symphony.

The top seed has surrendered just four games in four sets. Halep hit 23 winners compared to 10 for her ailing opponent in raising her record to 24-4 on the season.

"I knew that she's coming with a lot of confidence," Halep said. "And I had to start very strong, the match, and aggressive, which I did. And after I played a few games, I felt really good on court. I felt very confident that I can win that match."

It was a scary start for the Belgian as Halep reeled off eight straight games to open.




A ruthless Halep rampaged through the opening set in 21 minutes, hammering nine winners compared to three for Mertens in dispensing her second bagel of the week.

With her parents exhorting her from the support box, Halep scored fourth break to open the second set.

When Halep flagged forehand into net Mertens finally broke the shutout after 36 minutes of play, celebrating with a wide grin and fist pump toward her coach.

Serving at 3-5, Mertens fought off four match points.

Halep would not let her off the hook.

On the fifth match point, the Belgian double faulted ending a 72-minute match.

"I played well again," Halep said. "It's the second match of the tournament and I have a great feeling. It was a nice match and I take it like an important one because I played against a girl who won two tournaments on clay so far this year. So it was a really good match."



The Romanian aims for her 15th straight win in the Spanish capital when she meets left-hander Kristyna Pliskova in the round of 16.

The Czech qualifier won 78 percent of her first-serve points in a 7-5, 6-2, victory over Spanish wild card Sara Sorribes Tormo.

The winner of the Halep vs. Kristyna Pliskova match will face either US Open champion Sloane Stephens or Stuttgart champion Karolina Pliskova for a semifinal spot.

Prague champion Petra Kvitova continued her impressive roll, outdueling Monica Puig, 6-3, 7-6 (8).

Kvitova saved a set point in the tie break scoring her seventh straight win.



It was Kvitova's first win over Puig in three meetings.

The Olympic gold medal champion exploited successive double faults from the 10th seed to earn set point. In a moment, she may well rue all the way to Rome, Puig over-hit an open-court forehand that would have forced a final set.

Kvitova arrived in Madrid on Sunday and seemed to struggle at times adjusting to the higher altitude as she sometimes gulped deep breaths between points.

Still, the two-time Madrid champion kept calm and wrapped up the win, elevating her Madrid record to 22-6.

The 28-year-old Czech will face either Anett Kontaveit or Aliaksandra Sasnovich as she plays for her third trip to the quarterfinals in her last four Madrid appearances.


 

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