Halep to make ranking rise after toppling Tsurenko

Simona Halep will leapfrog Petra Kvitova in the rankings next Monday after maintaining her perfect record against Lesia Tsurenko.

French Open champion Simona Halep

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.

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.