French Open 2020: Halep avenges 2019 loss to Anisimova in under an hour

Paris, October 3: Simona Halep avenged her 2019 French Open defeat to Amanda Anisimova as she surged into the last 16 at Roland Garros with a third-round rout.

The 2018 winner saw her defence ended by the 19-year-old American in the quarter-finals last year, but the reigning Wimbledon champion was a class above in Friday's encounter.

She needed just 54 minutes on Philippe-Chatrier to progress to the fourth round, the 6-0 6-1 scoreline underlining her dominance.

Her quest for a third grand slam title next sees Halep face a tricky test in Iga Swiatek, the Polish teenager through to the fourth round for the second successive year after seeing off Eugenie Bouchard.

After breaking in the first game, Halep immediately had to stave off five break points to maintain her advantage.

It proved the pivotal moment in the contest, Halep cruising thereafter as Anisimova struggled to find any consistency with her groundstrokes.

She was shut out in the first set, which Halep clinched with some excellent serving, though Anisimova did manage to stop the rot to start the second.

Halep's movement and weaponry proved far too much for Anisimova, who had an air of resignation on the second match point when she sent a volley into the tramlines after excellent defence from the Romanian.

Speaking on court afterwards, Halep said her performance was a birthday present for coach Darren Cahill.

"I knew from last year that I had to change something," she said. "It's a gift for Darren because it's his birthday today so happy birthday, Darren."

The meeting with Swiatek is a rematch of last year's last-16 clash, which Halep won 6-1 6-0.

"I played against her before here, she is hitting very strong and very flat, it's going to be similar to today," added Halep.