Halep blows Badosa away in Madrid masterclass
Simona Halep blew Paula Badosa away with a Madrid Open masterclass to reach the Round of 16 on Sunday (AEST).
No.2 seed Badosa had no answer to the brilliance of Halep in her homeland as the relentless Romanian won 6-3 6-1 at the Caja Magica.
Unseeded two-time grand slam champion Halep took just one hour and 17 minutes to eliminate Badosa, breaking three times in the first set and twice in the second.
Halep, in a new era with Patrick Mouratoglou in her corner, won 84 per cent of points when she landed her first serve in, staying in the hunt to win this tournament for a third time with the French Open on the horizon.
The former world No.1 will face Coco Gauff for a place in the quarter-finals after the American's 6-1 2-6 6-4 late-night defeat of Yulia Putintseva.
Gauff, the No.14 seed, racked up 10 double faults and was pushed all the way by Putintseva, but served out the match after securing a third break in a tight final set.
Ons Jabeur earlier advanced into the third round at the expense of Varvara Gracheva, recovering from a second-set bagel to win 7-5 0-6 6-4.
Jabeur faces a meeting with Belinda Bencic after the Swiss dispatched Karolina Muchova 6-3 4-6 7-5.
Victoria Azarenka came from a set down to beat Tamara Zidansek 3-6 6-1 6-3 to set up a meeting with Amanda Anisimova, who also had to come from behind to dispatch Petra Martic 3-6 6-3 6-2.
Ekaterina Alexandrova and Marie Bouzkova also progressed in the Spanish capital.
