Halep digs deep to win tense first round match at Australian Open

Romania's Simona Halep went into the Australian Open as one of the favourites -AFP

MELBOURNE (Reuters): Simona Halep overcame a poor start and a fiery opponent at the Australian Open to prevail 7-6(5) 6-1 over big-hitting American Jennifer Brady in their first round encounter on Tuesday.

The Romanian fourth seed was broken in the very first game of the match and later took a nasty tumble during a punishing rally at 5-5 in the first set.

After a medical timeout, Halep began playing more aggressively, eventually edging out Brady in a tense tie-break to take the opening set.

A break early in the second set put Halep back in command and she clinched the match after 1 hour and 36 minutes.