Wimbledon 2019: Simona Halep breezes past Victoria Azarenka in straight sets to reach fourth round

The Romanian secured a 6-3 6-1 victory in one hour and six minutes

Simona Halep secured her passage to the last 16 of the Wimbledon Championships with a routine, straight-set victory over Victoria Azarenka.

After edging past fellow Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu in the second round, this was a far more dominant display from Halep, the seventh seed here at the All England Club, who secured a 6-3 6-1 victory in one hour and six minutes.

Both former world No 1s, it was the Belarusian who started brighter of the two, forcing Halep to save two break points on her opening serve of the first set.

But Azarenka’s form quickly dissipated in the face of Halep’s relentlessness. As Halep waged her war of attrition, deploying her athleticism to race for every point, Azarenka was far more aggressive and gun-ho.

It was an approach that yielded plenty of thumping forehand shots, especially earlier on in the match, but it came at a cost in the shape of 33 unforced errors that undermined her efforts.

Halep’s game may not have been as eye-catching as her opponent’s but, when backed into the corner, she demonstrated the capacity to pull off the spectacular.

The highlights of the first set included a reaching, forehand winner down the line and to a scooped cross-court backhand that fizzed beyond the reach of Azarenka.

The Belarusian, in contrast, had little to show for her efforts. The sight of her sunk to the turf, hands on knees at the end of the opening set – having just netted a third overhead volley, this time on her own serve – epitomised her performance.

The second set followed in a similar vein as Azarenka failed to rediscover her form and confidence, handing Halep her easiest win of the Championships to date.