World No 1 Simona Halep shows practice makes perfect by beating training partner Wang Qiang to reach Indian Wells quarter-finals
Career best result for China’s No3 in California desert where she outshines Peng Shuai and Zhang Shuai
Halep, who is one of two former champions left in the draw, is now 17-1 on the season having already won a title in both singles and doubles at Shenzhen, China.
Halep advances to the quarter-finals where she will face unseeded Petra Martic of Croatia who beat Czech Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 7-6 (7/4).
Halep needed just 76 minutes on the main stadium court to dispatch her practice partner Wang as she won 64 per cent of her first-serve points and broke Wang’s serve seven times.
Halep said she is happy with the way she is playing at this stage in the tournament.
“I wasn’t missing that much,” she said. “I dominated a little bit more.”
Part of Halep’s preparation for Indian Wells included hitting balls with Wang.
“I knew it would be like that because we practised a few days ago and she beat me in practice,” Halep said.
Halep won this event in 2015 and Wozniacki won it in 2011.
Wozniacki takes the court in Indian Wells later in the day when she faces 20th seeded Russian Daria Kasatkina.
World No 55 Wang is the third-highest ranked player in China behind Peng Shuai and Zhang Shuai.
Wang was the last Chinese player standing in the California desert, having achieved a career best result in Indian Wells by reaching the round of 16.