By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday April 30, 2022

 

Simona Halep earned her best win by ranking since 2016, topping No.2-seeded Paula Badosa at Madrid.

Photo Source: Gettyu

By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday April 28, 2022

Simona Halep’s first event with Patrick Mouratoglou coaching her has been a sterling success thus far. The Romanian sailed past World No. 2 Paula Badosa 6-3, 6-1 in Madrid on Saturday, earning her first victory against a top-2 ranked player since 2016 (now 3-15 overall vs. the Top-2).



Halep, currently 21 in the world, will face either Coco Gauff or Yulia Putintseva in the round of 16 in Madrid.

The 30-year-old Romanian has embraced a more aggressive mindset since linking up with Mouratoglou, and it was apparent from her statistics against Badosa that she employed her tactics effectively. She cracked 21 winners against just 14 unforced errors in 16 games.

"I kind of knew from before that I have to be a little bit more aggressive because the tennis is changing, in my opinion, and it's a lot of power," Halep told WTA Insider earlier this week at Madrid. "Now being more aggressive, I think I have a better chance. So yeah, together we decided that, and the fact that I trust him, it was much easier to do it”

Halep improves to 17-4 on the season and 2-0 on clay. The two-time Madrid and 2018 Roland-Garros champion is 134-48 lifetime on her favorite surface.

Shoulder Struggles for Badosa

Badosa reached the semifinals as a wild card in Madrid last year. But the World No.2 wasn’t feeling it on Saturday in her first career meeting with Halep. She struggled with right shoulder issues in addition to the bristling game of Halep. She had the trainer on court manipulating the shoulder after falling behind 3-0 in set two.

Two games later, trailing 5-0, Badosa pushed through to avoid the bagel in set two. Her comeback stopped there but she was sent off court to heartfelt applause from the Spanish crowd – a tribute to her career-high ranking this week and how far she has come in the last 52 weeks.

Badosa falls to 21-9 on the season with her loss.

Azarenka, Bencic and Anisimova Move Through

No.11-seeded Belinda Bencic and No.15-seeded Victoria Azarenka powered into the round of 16 on Saturday, each winning deciding sets to stay alive in the draw. Bencic topped Karolina Muchova 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, while two-time runner-up Azarenka toppled Tamara Zidansek, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Amanda Anisimova (d. Petra Martic), Marie Bouzkova (d. Dayana Yastremska) and Ekaterina Alexandrova (d. Nuria Parrizas Diaz) also advanced.