Simona Halep, who revealed herself as a serious Wimbledon challenger last year, suggested she may be even more dangerous than that this time around after an impressive start to her grass court campaign. The top-seeded Romanian hit the ball as sweetly as if she were born to the sport's natural surface, overcoming Naomi Broady, the British wild card entry, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the third round of the Wimbledon warm-up event.
Halep's ground-stroking skills were remarkably forceful given how rarely she competes on this surface, and after breaking serve with perfect timing to reach 5-4, served out for the first set and tore through the second. "I think I can say that I have the style to play on grass because my style is to play fast. I stay low because I am not very tall, so it helps me to stay there and to take the ball very quickly," she said.