World number three Simona Halep has booked her place in the third round of the Cincinnati Open with a gruelling three-set win over Kristina Mladenovic tonight.
The Romanian beat her French counterpart 7-5 5-7 6-4 in an arduous battle that lasted eight minutes shy of three hours.
Halep - ranked 37 places above Mladenovic - enjoyed a solid start as she broke her opponent's serve in the first game en route to a 3-1 lead.
From there, the duo struggled to hold their respective service games, as the next six games were won against serve. Halep led 6-5, before stopping the rot of breaks by holding her own to win the opener.
Two more breaks of serve followed as Halep led 4-3 midway through the second set, but Mladenovic responded well by pulling out two breaks of her own in two of the last three games to level up the match.
Halep seemed in trouble when Mladenovic battled back to 3-3 in the decider, but it was the wake-up call that the pre-match favourite needed as she clinched three of the next four games to see out the victory.
Shane Callaghan
