Simona Halep has sealed her place in the quarter-finals at the Australian Open by beating Yanina Wickmayer 6-4 6-2 on the Rod Laver Arena this morning.
The third seed got a break on the board early in the first set, but struggled to close it out as the Belgian saved a string of set points on her serve.
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The Romanian was solid during her own service games, though, and managed to hold to take the set in the next game, taking a set off Wickmayer for the first time in her career.
Halep always looked the stronger of the two in the second, breaking early again before taking a second game off her opponent to lead 5-2.
Serving for the match, Halep double faulted to give Wickmayer hope, but the world number three quickly recovered and clinched the match when her opponent hit her backhand wide.
Halep will face Russia's Ekaterina Makarova in the last eight next week.
Sian Cowper
