Halep wins opener on home soil
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bucharest, Romania (SportsNetwork.com) - Romanian star Simona Halep was an easy first-round winner Wednesday at the inaugural Bucharest Open tennis tournament.
The top-seeded French Open runner-up rolled past Dutchwoman Indy De Vroome 6-0, 6-4 on the red clay at Arenele BNR.
Halep, who was a Wimbledon semifinalist last week, will face Serb Aleksandra Krunic on Thursday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In second-round action on Day 3, eighth-seeded Slovenian Polona Hercog held off Pole Katarzyna Piter 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4); Slovak Kristina Kucova topped Romanian Cristina Dinu 6-2, 6-3; Spaniard Lara Arruabarrena outlasted Turk Cagla Buyukakcay 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6); and Romanian veteran Monica Niculescu bested Bulgarian Elitsa Kostova 7-5, 7-5.
Another opening-round result on Wednesday saw Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens sneak past Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu 6-0, 3-6, 6-2.
The maiden Bucharest champion will pocket $43,000.