|
Twice champion Halep secured a nervy 6-4 7-6(2) win on Friday
and advance to the last four for a fifth time.
The former world number one, up a set and leading 4-1 in the
second, looked headed for an easy passage into the last four.
But Gauff dug in and rallied to force the second set to a
tiebreak before 15th-seeded Halep finish off the 10th seed in
the tiebreak to maintain her dominance over the American.
In four career meetings, including three this year, Gauff has
yet to take a set off Halep, who next faces another American in
seventh seed Jessica Pegula - a 6-3 6-3 winner over Kazakh Yulia
Putintseva.
"I'm really pleased with the way I stayed there strong
mentally," said Halep, after reaching her 29th career semi-final
at a WTA 1000 event - more than any other player.
"And I fought for every point which was really important because
she's doing the same thing. Mentally I'm strong even if I
struggled a little bit in the second set."
Halep certainly struggled in the second as she twice served for
the match at 5-4 and 6-5 only to be broken each time.
But the twice Grand Slam winner refocused in the tiebreak to
stop the contest going to a third and registered her 36th win
this season behind only Iga Swiatek (48) and Ons Jabeur (37).
The 30-year-old also had to wrestle with her serve, committing
eight double faults while giving French Open finalist Gauff
plenty of chances with 12 break opportunities.
Haddad Maia humbled 12th seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 2-6,
6-3, 6-3 to become the first Brazilian to reach the semi-finals
of a WTA 1000 tournament.
The 26-year-old from Sao Paulo, who stunned Polish world number
one Iga Swiatek in the previous round, needed two hours and 11
minutes to edge past 2015 champion Bencic.
She will meet former world number one Karolina Pliskova who
prevailed 4-6 6-4 6-4 against Zheng Qinwen of China in the last
quarter-final match.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto and Amlan Chakraborty in
New Delhi; Editing by Ken Ferris and Tom Hogue)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
|
