Australian Open: Romanian Simona Halep cruises to the third round, Irina Begu qualifies as well

Romanian tennis star Simona Halep, the current number three in the WTA ranking of the best women’s tennis players in the world, qualified into the third round of the Australian Open. She beat Australia’s Jarmila Gajdosova (no. 62 WTA) in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, on Wednesday. Another Romanian player, Irina-Camelia Begu (no. 42 WTA), made it to the third round of the competition, after beating Czech Katerina Siniakova (no. 81 WTA), 7-5, 6-4. Begu already improved her best performance in the Australian Open, where she stopped in the second round last year. She will face Germany’s Carina Witthoeft (no. 104 WTA0, for a place in the fourth round. Meanwhile, Simona Halep who is the third favourite of this year’s competition, is expected to make it at least to the semi-finals. She will face American Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the third round. In the men’s competition, Romanian player Marius Copil, ranked 194 ATP, has a big challenge ahead of him, as he will play against Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, the tournament’s fourth favourite, on Thursday. Copil qualified for the first time in the second round of the Australian Open. Romanian tennis player Horia Tecau and his doubles partner, Dutch Jean-Julien Roger, will also play in Thursday their first round match in the men doubles competition. Another Romanian, Florin Mergea, who pairs up with British player Dominic Inglot, has already made it to the second round. Tecau and Mergea will also play in the mixed doubles competition. Romanians Monica Niculescu, Raluca Olaru and Irina Begu are also waiting to play their first matches in the women doubles competition. editor@romania-insider.com (Photo source: ausopen.com)