Kicking off the WTA Finals round-robin action, third seed Simona Halep humbled tournament debutante Madison Keys with a straightforward 6-2 6-4 victory in the Red Group.
The first set was over in less than half an hour, as the 21-year-old Keys never recovered from an early break, while Halep was always strong in her service games. In the second set, Keys was again the first one to drop serve, but this time, helped by guidance from her coach Thomas Hogstedt, the American stepped into the baseline on Halep's second serve and broke the Romanian to tie the set at 4-4.