Toronto (AFP)
Romanian Simona Halep, 15th in the world, qualified for the semi-finals of the 1,000th Toronto Tennis Tournament, by defeating American Coco Gauff 6-4, 7-6.
The 30-year-old Romanian, who was crowned in Canada in 2016 and 2018 when the tournament was held in Montreal, struck a meeting in the semi-final with American Jessica Pegula, who defeated Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva “46” 6-3 6-3.
I’m happy with the way she stayed psychologically strong, Halep said, and she fought for every point, that was important because Jove was doing the same, it was never easy against her.
And about her next match in the semi-finals in her first match against Pegula, she said: It will be a great challenge to face a player for the first time, it is always like this, but it is a semi-final, so she will definitely play well, she is strong, I will focus on myself and I will fight For the match as I do here every time.
Halep, who reached the semi-finals of the last edition of Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam, entered high spirits, having previously defeated her opponent in the previous three matches that brought them together.
On the other hand, Gauff missed the opportunity to enter the top ten rankings for the first time in her career, losing to the former first seed and winner of the French 2018 Roland Garros and British Wimbledon 2019.
Halep, who will compete in the semi-finals of a 1,000-point tournament for the 29th time in her career, scored her 183rd victory in these tournaments and her 36th victory this year.
After winning the first set, Halep had to raise her level in the second, after Gauff, the 18-year-old and runner-up in the French championship Roland Garros this year, broke her serve 4 times, and led her to the tiebreak, during which the Romanian benefited from her power of service to decide the match. in one hour and 49 minutes.
In turn, the Czech Karolina Pliskova, the former world number one, booked her place in the semi-finals by defeating China’s Kenwen Jing “51” 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
The 30-year-old Czech, ranked 14th in the world, overturned her group behind against a competitor who played wonderfully despite her young age and 19-year-old inexperience, who launched her career this year and crowned her first title on dirt in the Spanish tournament in Valencia.
Pliskova, runner-up in the Canadian Championships held in Montreal last year and seeking her 17th title in her career, almost lost control of the match, after her opponent broke her serve to reduce the difference to 5-4, before the Czech won the match by serving the Chinese.
Pliskova met with Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maya, ranked 24th in the world, who beat Swiss Belinda Bencic (12), Olympic champion in Tokyo last year, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, to reach the semi-finals for the first time in her career. The thousand.
“I didn’t start the match by playing the way I wanted, I missed a lot of hits in the first set, but I forced myself to stay positive and stay in the mood,” said the 26-year-old Brazilian, who had a huge surprise by eliminating the world number one Iga Švientek in the previous round. The match, the tennis match can turn quickly.
Haddad Maya, who has won three tournaments this year in St Malo, Birmingham and Nottingham, continued: “I feel happy, I have worked so hard, every day for several years, to live in this moment.
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