Melbourne blues: Alexandrova knocks Halep out of Gippsland Trophy

Top-seeded Simona Halep had her hands full with Ekaterina Alexandrova, as she collapsed against the Russian in Melbourne. In quarterfinal action at the Gippsland Trophy Friday, Alexandrova notched her third Top-10 victory by blitzing the Romanian, 6-2, 6-1.

"Playing semifinals tomorrow, it'll be just great for me," Alexandrova said after the match. "I just tried to play my best. I was kind of nervous at the start because this court isn't my lucky one, but after two games, I won one game and I felt much better."

After scoring her only service break in the opening game of the match, Halep could not solve the Alexandrova puzzle. The world No. 33 could do no wrong with her flat hard-hitting ground strokes, rushing Halep and forcing her into making uncharacteristic mistakes. Having dropped the first two games, Alexandrova won six straight to take the first set.

Getty Images

The world No. 33 carried the momentum into the second set to lead 3-0. In the fourth game, Halep saved a match point to finally get on the board, but that did not deter Alexandrova, who won the final three to secure the comprehensive win. It marked her second straight victory over the two-time Grand Slam champion.

Up next for the No. 9 seed is unseeded Kaia Kanepi, who received a walkover after Karolina Muchova withdrew due to a left abdominal injury.