The reigning Roland Garros runner up is known for her combination of mix strides and accuracy. However, on her duel with the Croatian she never found her usual pace. Lucic-Baroni finished her campaign with an ace on the Court Suzanne Lenglen.
"She played well. I couldn't play my best today. But, you know, she started to hit the ball very strong at the beginning of the match. So she was better than me today," Halep told a group of reporters.
The 23-year old stood her ground and tried to resist Lucic-Baroni, who came back on the tennis scene in 2006 after a three-year hiatus into a hitting contest.
"I just wanted to hit too strong maybe, and to change the game is not good. I have to play like what I feel on court and to create the game," Halep said.
"So I started to hit the ball too strong, and that is not my style. I don't feel it, and I don't handle it."
With a decade separating the two athletes, the 70th ranked player stayed poised and aggressive.
"I think she was trying a couple of different things, and I was just trying to stay aggressive and play smart and serve smart," she explained.
"She moves the ball around really well. She's an amazing athlete and super tough opponent. I was glad I was able to stay aggressive but not make too many unforced errors. That was the key for me."
Lucic-Baroni will face French Alize Cornet on the next round.
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