MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Top seed Simona Halep eased fears over her fitness with a brisk 6-2 6-2 victory over Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard to reach the third round of the Australian Open on Thursday.
The Romanian world number one sprained her ankle in her first round match at Melbourne Park on Tuesday but showed no sign of restricted movement in a 65-minute romp on Margaret Court Arena.
Marching around the court like she meant nothing but business, Halep broke Bouchard seven of the eight times the Canadian served to set up a third round meeting with American Lauren Davies.
Bouchard, who beat Halep in the 2014 Wimbledon semi-finals, had her moments but made 26 unforced errors, conceding defeat with the last of them after Halep had fired down a huge forehand which she could only balloon wide of the court.
Reporting by Nick Mulvenney in Sydney, editing by Amlan Chakraborty