Simona Halep vs Taylor Townsend Tennis Prediction

Simona Halep, whose first-round match was deferred by a day, received a rude shock in the opener as she lost the first set to Alison Riske, 6-2. The world #1 proved her resilience by winning the next two sets, dropping just two games (2-6 6-1 6-1).
Halep arrived at Paris having fallen short in her previous two tournaments. At Madrid, where she was the two-time defending champion, she lost in the quarterfinals to Karolina Pliskova. At Rome, she lost the final to Elina Svitolina for the second year in a row.
Two-time French Open runner-up Halep has gone 13-1 in Grand Slam second round matches (3-1 at Paris) after cracking into the top 20 in August 2013 (l. Lucic-Baroni at 2015 French Open).
Taylor Townsend, playing with a wildcard, has beaten another wildcard Myrtille Georges in straight sets (6-4 6-2) to reach the French Open second round for the fourth time. In fact, the American is yet to win a first-round match at any other slam.
Townsend made her slam main draw debut at Paris in 2014, upsetting local favorite Cornet to reach the third round. The world #72, who has won a couple of clay ITF titles in the last two months, is playing a tournament outside the US only for the first time since January.
Halep defeated Townsend, 6-4 6-1, in 66 minutes when they met for the first time at 2017 Cincinnati. The top-seed has gone 6-0 against left-handed players in 2018, while Townsend has a 0-9 career record against top 20 players.

Tennis Prediction: Simona Halep 2-0 SET
Odds: 1.35