MELBOURNE, Australia — Wimbledon champion Simona Halep reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open with a straight-sets win over Elise Mertens on Monday.
Halep appeared to be cruising after winning the first set and going up a service break in the second, but Mertens broke back to level the second set at 4-4.
Halep responded by converting her fifth break-point chance in the next game and served out at love to clinch the match. Halep will next play either Anett Kontaveit or Iga Swiatek.
No. 4-seeded Halep reached the Australian Open final in 2018 and won her first major title at the French Open that year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This article was originally published by Espn.com. Read the original article here.