Halep eases past Makarova in Indian Wells

Simona Halep eased into the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open in a dominant straight-sets win over??Ekaterina Makarova on Sunday.??

Halep, the defending Indian Wells champion, needed just under one hour, five minutes to complete the 6-2 6-4 victory over her Russian opponent.??

The Romanian fifth seed??broke Makarova twice in the first set and won 89??per cent of her service points.

Makarova managed to break once in the second set but her 26 unforced errors compared to Halep's 14 across the match proved the difference.

Halep will face Barbora Strycova in the last 16 as she looks to claim back-to-back titles in California.