Melbourne, Australia: Third-seeded Simona Halep advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open with a 6-4, 7-5 win Friday over Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
Halep twice served for the match at 5-2 and 5-4 but Mattek-Sands broke back each time.
But Halep broke the American in the next game, then finally clinched the match with her third attempt on serve.
Halep, the 2014 French Open finalist, opened the season by winning the Shenzhen Open in China. She was a quarterfinalist at last year's Australian Open.
She will next play Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium, who beat No. 14-seeded Sara Errani of Italy earlier Friday.
