Halep doubles up by destroying Williams in straight sets

World number one Simona Halep crushed seven time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams in straight sets at the WTA Montreal event just hours after a delivering a marathon three-hour victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Top seed Halep took no prisoners against Williams, blitzing the 38-year-old American 6-2, 6-2 in just 71 minutes to reach the quarter-finals.

Halep's match against Pavlyuchenkova was originally scheduled for Wednesday night but heavy rains forced organizers to postpone it until Thursday morning.

The Romanian needed three gruelling sets to oust the world No. 28 Russian but had a much easier time against veteran Williams who has yet to win a title in 2018.

Williams has struggled with her form this year and hasn't won a Grand Slam title since Wimbledon in 2008 when she beat sister Serena in the final.

"It's never easy to play either of the Williams sisters, and even though she was struggling, I knew I had to be focused on every ball, and stay focused until the end," Halep said.

"She wasn't feeling great on the court and it definitely wasn't her best day. And I'm happy to be the quarter-finals now."
- Three match points -
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"I didn't win any of the match points," Wozniacki said. "I had an opportunity. I didn't get it."