LONDON, (Reuters) – In recent years Wimbledon has not exactly been dreamland for Simona Halep and Victoria Azarenka, and the nightmare will continue for one of them after the former world number ones set up a third round showdown.
Seventh seed Halep appeared to be heading for an easy win when she was a set and 2-0 up against Mihaela Buzarnescu before her fellow Romanian stormed back to take the second set.
Buzarnescu even stopped in her tracks midway through the seventh game of the second set to hand over a bottle of water to a spectator who had fainted in the stands.
But Halep was less charitable and turfed her compatriot out of the championships with a 6-3 4-6 6-2 defeat.
Twelve months ago Halep perished in the third round despite being top seed and she will be hoping for better fortune on Friday when she faces Azarenka.
“It’s going to be a big challenge for me, tough one, because she’s … very aggressive,” said Halep, who has won two her four meetings with Azarenka, including at Wimbledon in 2017.
“I have to be strong on my legs to be ready for her strokes because she hits very strong.”
The Belarussian made sure there was no repeat of her 2018 second-round exit as she dished out a 6-2 6-0 mauling to Australian Ajla Tomljanovic.
Halep and Azarenka were among four former WTA number ones in singles action on day three, along with Karolina Pliskova and Caroline Wozniacki.
Pliskova has long been thought of as a Grand Slam champion-in-waiting and the Czech provided evidence of her grasscourt pedigree as she hurtled past Monica Puig 6-0 6-4.
“I feel like I’m improving every day on grass,” said Pliskova, who arrived at Wimbledon full of confidence after scooping her third title on grass at Eastbourne last week.
