Simona Halep suffered a brutal defeat in the round-of-16 of the WTA 125 tournament in Hong Kong just a day after clinching her first win in over two years.
On Wednesday, the former world No. 1 edged out Aryna Rodionova 6-2 4-6 6-4 to collect her first win since returning to tennis from doping suspension – later she described it as something special.
Today, the two-time Grand Slam champion was back in action but it didn’t go well at all for her since No. 7 Anna Blinkova dismantled her with a 6-2 6-1 scoreline.
Early in the first set, Halep saved a break point in the first game but then also missed out on three consecutive break points in the fourth game. The Romanian paid the price for not realizing a great chance to go up by a break as Blinkova claimed three breaks in a row and won seven consecutive games to go 6-2 2-0 up.
While the former world No. 1 managed to save six break points in the third game of the second set and finally end Blinkova’s run, her struggles continued as the Russian collected back-to-back breaks in the fifth and seventh games to end the match on a four-game winning run.
Halep was probably tired after not playing for an extended period
After returning to tennis in March, the 33-year-old appeared in just…
