Halep needs only an hour and 19 minutes to beat Naomi Osaka, 6-3, 6-2

Jan 22, 2018
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Halep needs only an hour and 19 minutes to beat Naomi Osaka, 6-3, 6-2

Published Jan 22, 2018

After defeating American Lauren Davis in a third-round match that lasted nearly four hours, fatigue could have easily become an issue for world No. 1 Simona Halep. The weather in Melbourne Park has been especially brutal this week, and the matches are only going to get tougher from here.

Fortunately for the Romanian, she was able to quickly earn a 6-3, 6-2 win over world No. 72 Naomi Osaka on Monday. The match lasted only an hour and 20 minutes, so perhaps Halep will actually have some fresh legs when she takes the court in the quarterfinals.

It's well-documented that Halep is searching for her first career Grand Slam title, so it was important for her to earn a win like that over a good player like Osaka.

Match Point:

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Halep and Osaka hit the same amount of winners (22) in the match, but Halep had only 18 unforced errors to Osaka's 31. The world No. 1 was also clutch on serve, saving six of Osaka's seven break point opportunities and capitalizing on five of her seven.

On top of Halep finishing this match in a hurry, it's also worth noting that her improved mental toughness was on display once again.

After Halep won the first set, Osaka broke her in the first game of the second. That presented an opportunity for Osaka to shift the momentum back in her favor, but the Romanian shut the door fast. She immediately broke Osaka back, and it was all Halep from there.

Next for the world No. 1 is a chance to play her way into her first ever Australian Open semifinal. She'll need to clean a few things up in order to do that, but the good news is that she was able to put her tough match against Davis behind her. The Romanian has now won in straight sets in three of her four matches Down Under, and she has got to be feeling confident at this point.

Read Joel Drucker and Nina Pantic on TENNIS.com as they report from the Australian Open, and watch them each day on The Daily Mix:

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