Simona Halep serves up a fine display to advance at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

If this is what life without a coach looks like, Simona Halep's players box might remain empty for a while longer.

The former world No 1, flying solo this week after ending her brief reunion with coaches Daniel Dobre and Adrian Marcu, was in fine form to defeat American wildcard Alison Riske 6-2, 6-4 and move into the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Halep was beset by injury for large parts of last year and consequently her ranking has tumbled to No 23. But the early signs in 2022, which include a season-opening title in Melbourne and a run to the last 16 at the Australian Open, suggest the Romanian will be back near the top soon enough. Those signs were also on display inside Centre Court on Monday evening.

It no doubt also helps that Dubai has been a happy hunting ground for Halep. She won her 20th WTA Tour title here in 2020 – in the tournament's 20th year no less – five years after her first Dubai title. Unable to defend the trophy last year because of injury, Halep is now on a five-match win streak in the emirate.

So, if there was going to be a tournament to test out going coach-less for the first time, Dubai would likely be high on the list of options for the two-time Grand Slam champion.

"It's special to play here, I have great memories from winning this tournament twice," Halep, 30, said in her on-court interview. "I'm really happy to be fit and play some good tennis."

Play some good tennis, she did. Halep was a class above in the first set and looked on course for a rapid victory when she sealed the opener in 26 minutes. The Romanian broke Riske twice in succession to race into a 5-1 lead, and while the American held for 5-2, Halep comfortably closed out the set.

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