Hong Kong 125 Open: Halep well-beaten by Blinkova in round two
Anna Blinkova won against Simona Halep 6-2, 6-1 on Thursday and will face the winner of the match between American Emma Navarro, the top seed, and Australian Kimberly Birrell in the next round
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Simona Halep‘s return from injury ended in 6-2, 6-1 defeat by Anna Blinkova of Russia in the second round of the Hong Kong 125 Open on Thursday.
Former world No 1 Halep had expressed her joy at returning to the Tour for the first time since May, beating Australian Arina Rodionova in the first round, her first win since her four-year ban for a positive drugs test was reduced to nine months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in March.
But the Romanian found seventh seed Blinkova too hot to handle as she went down to defeat in 64 minutes.
Blinkova, ranked No 78, will play the winner of the match between American Emma Navarro, the top seed, and Australian Kimberly Birrell next.
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