Romanian tennis players Simona Halep and Irina-Camelia Begu qualified to the second round of the Australian Open, the first grand slam tournament of the year.

Simona Halep, the third favourite at winning the tournament in Melbourne, had no problem winning her first match against Italian Karin Knapp. She showed good shape and no signs of illness, given that last week she withdrew from a tournament in Sydney on a stomach bug. Pundits expect to see Halep getting past the quarter finals, where her path in the Australian Open stopped last year.

Halep beat Knapp in two sets, ended 6-3, 6-2, and moved to the second round, where she will play against Austalian Jarmila Gajdosova (no. 62 WTA), who beat Romanian Alexandra Dulgheru in the first round.

The second Romanian who made it to the second round of the Australian Open is Irina-Camelia Begu, currently 42nd in the WTA ranking of the best women’s tennis players in the world. Begu managed to beat Germany’s Angelique Kerber, the tournament’s ninth favourite, in three sets (6-4, 0-6, 6-1). In the second round, Begu will play against Chezch Katerina Siniakova.

Another Romanian, Sorana Cirstea, was eliminated by Russia’s Alexandra Panova, while Monica Niculescu has yet to play in the first round against Australian Samantha Stosur.

editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Simona Halep's Facebook Page)