Simona Halep advanced to the second round of the WTA 1000 tournament in Cincinnati after a hard-fought three-set victory over Russia’s Anastasia Potapova.

Simona HalepPhoto: Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images/Profimedia

Halep won after two hours and 15 minutes of play with a score of 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Simona Halep will beat Veronika Kudermetova in the second round, who has lost all three matches against Simona so far.

Simona Halep declared herself a fighter after winning the match against Anastasia Potapova at WTA Cincinnati

“I just fought until the end, she’s also a fighter, a strong player, we both had a very good match, I was tired, but it’s always great to finish with a win.

The audience helped me a lot, thank you all for your support. It’s always great to have you around, you’ve helped me move on.

It’s not easy to focus on the game again after the title, but I wanted to come here and fight. Every match is important and we gave it our all today on the pitch.

I will enjoy what happens now. I will play match by match and see how far I can go.” – Simona Halepafter the victory with Anastasia Potapova.

Halep’s match against Kudermetova in the second round will be Wednesday’s second on Court 3 in the women’s draw and will start no earlier than 01:30 (Romanian time). Live broadcast of the match on Digisport 2.

Simona Halep, virtual circuit from WTA Cincinnati

First round – 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 against Anastasia Potapova

II round – Veronika Kudermetova

Optimi – Paula Badoz

Quarters – Ons Jabeur / Sorana Cîrstea / Petra Kvitova

Semifinal – Iga Svyatek / Garbinier Muguruza / Jelena Ostapenko

Final – Anette Kontaveit / Maria Sakkari / Aryna Sabalenko / Jessica Pegula / Emma Raducanu / Karolina Plishkova.

The Western & Southern Open is the last tournament before the US Open 2022

A WTA 1000 category competition, the tournament will be held on hard from August 15 to 21, 2022. Its total prize pool is $2,527,250 and there are 64 players at the start of the main draw. The reigning champion is Ashley Barty (now retired), who won the title last year.