WTA roundup: Simona Halep rolls at Stuttgart

Second-seeded Simona Halep cruised to a straight-sets victory in less than an hour and No. 8 seed Belinda Bencic was defeated Thursday at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany.

Halep, of Romania, had little trouble dispatching Czech Marketa Vondrousova 6-1, 6-3. Halep was phenomenal on her second serve, winning 93 percent of those points. She won 73 percent of her first serves, too.

Switzerland's Bencic was the only seeded player to lose Thursday, falling 6-1, 7-5 to Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia. Alexandrova blasted 12 aces in the win.

Fourth-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine defeated Germany's Angelique Kerber 7-6 (4), 6-3 in one hour, 34 minutes. Fifth-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus cruised past Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany 6-4, 6-2.

Czech Karolina Pliskova, the sixth seed, needed two hours, 23 minutes to rally from a set down to beat Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-3.

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Top-seeded Elise Mertens of Belgium needed more than two hours to defeat Switzerland's Viktorija Golubic 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.

Mertens used nine aces and broke Golubic six times en route to the victory. Mertens survived five double faults.

Third-seeded Veronika Kudermetova of Russia was a straight-sets winner over Estonia's Kaia Kanepi 6-4, 6-3 in 88 minutes.

Romania's Ana Bogdan upset Czech Barbora Krejcikova, the No. 5 seed, 6-3, 6-3 in one hour, 21 minutes. Also, France's Fiona Ferro defeated Vera Zvonareva of Russia 6-3, 6-3.

--Field Level Media