NEW YORK — Romanian second seed Simona Halep followed the same express path into the second round of the U.S. Open as Serena Williams, advancing 6-2 3-0 after New Zealand's Marina Erakovic retired with a knee injury on Tuesday.
The in-form Halep, who reached the finals at U.S. Open tune-up events in Toronto and Cincinnati, barely broke a sweat on a sunny Arthur Ashe Stadium court, needing a mere 47 minutes to see off the 99th ranked New Zealander.
Top seed Williams, bidding to complete a calendar sweep of the four grand slams, advanced on Monday in similar fashion as she was up 6-0 2-0 when Russia's Vitalia Diatchenko was forced to retire hurt.