Madrid, Spain, 10 May 2017 | AAP

Australia’s Sam Stosur has charged into the third round of the Madrid Open with a comfortable 6-3 7-5 win over Colombian world No.98 Mariana Duque-Marino.

Stosur, unbroken on serve throughout the match only faced two break points, while also converting both of hers to move into the final 16 of the tournament without dropping a set.

There she will face Romanian third seed Simona Halep, who Stosur leads 3-1 when it comes to their career meetings on clay, the last of which was in the fourth round at Roland Garros in 2016, when Stosur won 7-6(0) 6-3.

In their most recent meeting, Halep won in three sets in the fourth round of March’s Miami Open.

They also met in last year’s Madrid semifinals, a match Halep dominated.

Halep made it to the third round of this year’s event in less impressive fashion, coming back from the edge of defeat to beat Italian Roberta Vinci 6-3 2-6 7-6 (7-2).

“Her game is not easy to play. Her slices are very difficult to return,” said Halep, who trailed 5-2 in the final set.

“She was hitting pretty strong also with the forehand today, serve, everything. She played unbelievable.

“I was close to losing the match, but I stayed strong. I stayed focused. I didn’t give up. That makes this match much more like bigger for me. It means a lot.”

Halep said she is looking forward to taking on Stosurfor the second year running in the Spanish capital.

“I know Sam pretty well – we played many times together,” Halep said. “It’s going to be very difficult. Her topspin is not easy to return.”