FEZ, Morocco (AP) — Simona Halep of Romania beat Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus 6-2, 6-0 on Monday to reach the second round of the Grand Prix SAR.
The seventh-seeded Halep, who was the runner-up last year, lost only 12 points on her serve and broke her opponent seven times.
Fourth-seeded Greta Arn of Hungary also advanced after Austria’s Patricia Mayr-Achleitner retired when trailing 6-0, 1-0. Arn is looking for her second title this season following her victory in Auckland in January.
Top-seeded Aravane Rezai of France was set to play Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands in her first-round match.
