Halep v Wozniacki battle begins

Simona Halep of Romania hits a return against Caroline Garcia of France during the WTA Finals tennis tournament in Singapore on October 23, 2017. [Photo/AFP]

Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki both won on a day of few surprises at the Madrid Open. World number one Halep is holding off a challenge from Wozniacki in Spain, with the Dane sure to climb to the top of the rankings if she out-performs her rival this week. 

The duo had little difficulty with their opening matches, though, and were joined in the second round by home favourite Garbine Muguruza. Sloane Stephens and Petra Kvitova are also through, along with a couple of former world number ones. 

Both Halep and Wozniacki were triumphant on Sunday as the latter looks to dethrone the former at the rankings summit. 

And Wozniacki can certainly be encouraged by her performance, breezing past Daria Gavrilova 6-3 6-1 before reflecting: "I think it's the best clay match that I've had so far this year, so I'm really happy with that."