Halep to make ranking rise after toppling Tsurenko

Simona Halep will move up to second in the rankings after reaching the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open with a straight-sets win over Lesia Tsurenko.

The French Open champion, who formally started her partnership with new coach Thierry Van Cleemput this week, moved into the last eight with a 6-2 6-3 victory on Wednesday.

Halep was on a high after starring in Romania's Fed Cup win over defending champions the Czech Republic last weekend and the top seed was too good for Tsurenko.

The Romanian had a first-serve percentage of only 54, but bossed the first set and came from a break down in the second to seal a meeting with Julia Goerges.

.@Simona_Halep propelled to the #QTO2019 quarterfinal! She overcame Tsurenko in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. pic.twitter.com/gg87gb4j6x

— WTA (@WTA) February 13, 2019

Halep got off to a blistering start, unleashing a barrage of forehand winners, and a double fault from her Ukrainian opponent gave the former world number one a 4-0 lead.

Tsurenko won a couple of games in a row before Halep fizzed a forehand down the line to take the first set, but she was 3-1 down in the second after being broken to love in the third game.

Normal service was resumed as the 2014 Qatar Open champion - who will move above Petra Kvitova in the rankings next Monday - won five games in a row to make it six wins out of six against the world number 24.