Number 2 seed Simona Halep is a spritely little players. She is hard to score the passing shot past her with her movement. Watch 1-1 30-0 to Marketa, Simona got the rub of the green when Vondrousova aimed the forehand straight at her but her net movement made the point win possible. She never looked back from that service game she won, Halep that is. Marketa’s mistake in the first set was that she seemed stuck on the baseline, no effort whatsoever to attack the net early. Watch the second of three set points converted by Halep 5-1(40-15).

Serving lesson. Watch the first game of the second set Halep up 30-0. The right hander serving to a lefty. The lefty’s weak spot is the bouncy kick serve to their backhand side such that even if she is tall she struggles just to get the ball back into court. She struggles to adjust her feet quick enough as well to cover the open court. Bach hand winner school. Watch 1-1 with Halep up 15-0. Simona’s back hand winner illustrates that when you want the ball to go deep into the corner’s of the opponents’ court, make sure it is high above the net with top spin but also have the control not to go overboard by hitting the ball hard. Marketa had much better service games in the second set. It took one break of serve to get the job done by Halep. Pretty strong showing by the Romanian in this Round of 16 encounter. But there is a very strong field in Stuttgart this year with the likes of Kvitova, Barty and Sabalenka still in the draw.