World News – CA – Halep manages Begu and will field Anisimova rematch

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Seeded Simona Halep edged Irina-Camelia Begu to maintain a perfect head-to-head against her compatriot and book a third-round meeting with 25-seeded NonAmanda Anisimova, which ended the title defense of Roland-Garros in 2019

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PARIS, France – Former world No.1 Simona Halep maintained an unbeaten record against compatriot Irina-Camelia Begu to advance, 6-3, 6-4 and reach the third round of Roland Garros

Halep got off to a quick start and rarely slowed down during the 83-minute game, serving the game gracefully on the Suzanne-Lenglen court

The wins keep coming 👌 @ Simona_Halep extends her best career winning streak to 16 with a solid 6-3 6-4 win over compatriot Begu # RolandGarros picTwittercom / 51NjSlPLsi

The 2018 champion was riding a wave of confidence arriving in Paris, having won her last 14 matches and three titles dating back to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in February Capturing a long-awaited crown from Internazionali BNL d’Italia ahead of her return to Roland Garros, she celebrated her 29th birthday by extending her winning streak to 15 in a row with a victory over Sara Sorribes Tormo on Monday

Facing his compatriot for a place in the third round, Halep had never lost to Begu in seven previous meetings – five at the tour level, and most recently at the Prague Open in August, where the former no.1 won in straight sets en route to the title

After winning the last 10 games of his match against Sorribes Tormo, Halep added three more games to the stack against Begu, dropping just two points between two love service strikes

At first, struggling to find her lineup, Begu, who reached week two at Roland Garros in 2016, saved two break points to get on the board, and quickly settled in by breaking Halep for recover the first set in service

The seed responded combatively, creating two more breakpoints with a powerful passing shot, then snapped once more to find himself serving for the set

Playing solid defense to reach the set point, Halep delivered a decisive delivery to conclude the set in 40 minutes

An early exchange of breaks put the Romanians on a level playing field until Halep edged out Begu to earn a pair of break points at 4-4, converting the first as Begu missed a wide forehand

Although Begu threatened to force a breaking point in the last game, the defending Wimbledon champion held his ground and crossed the finish line in under 90 minutes

All in all, it was a clear game for Halep, who hit 15 winners in 14 unforced errors while converting four of 10 breakpoint opportunities and winning exactly half of all points played on the return trip Begu will regret his late start, which contributed to 29 total unforced errors against 22 winners, and will take just 14 points off Halep’s serve in straight sets

Standing between former world number1 and a sixth trip to week two in Paris is no 25-seeded Amanda Anisimova, who beat American compatriot Bernarda Pera earlier in the day Anisimova ended the defense of the Roland Garros title last spring and narrowly fell against eventual champion Ashleigh Barty in the semi-final

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French Open, Amanda Anisimova, Simona Halep, Bernarda Pera, Irina-Camelia Begu