Halep beats Wang to reach BNP Paribas quarters

Top-seeded Simona Halep cruised past Wang Qiang of China in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament here.

The world number one emerged on top of a tight first set and rolled through the second over the course of a 7-5, 6-1 defeat of Wang on Tuesday, reports Xinhua news agency.

World No. 55 Wang is the third highest ranked player in China behind Peng Shuai and Zhang Shuai. She was the last Chinese singles player standing in the California desert.

Halep advances to the quarter-finals and will face unseeded Petra Martic of Croatia, who advanced to the last eight with a straight sets 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) win against Czech Marketa Vondrousova on Tuesday.

"I wasn't missing that much," the 26-year-old Romanian player said after the match.

"I dominated a little bit more."

Halep, who is one of two former champions left in the draw, is now 17-1 on the season having already won a title in both singles and doubles at Shenzhen, China.

Halep and second seed Caroline Wozniacki have taken turns being No. 1 this year with Wozniacki grabbing it after beating Halep in three sets in the Australian Open final and Halep winning it back just prior to Indian Wells.

Halep won a title at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in 2015 and Wozniacki won it in 2011.

--IANS

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