Simona Halep books spot in final four at the Rogers Cup in Montreal
Saturday 11 August 2018 12:37, UK
World No 1 Simona Halep triumphed in a rematch of last year's quarter-final against Caroline Garcia to book her spot in the final four at the Rogers Cup.
The pair once again squared up in the last eight in Montreal - but any hopes Garcia had of reversing last year's outcome were quickly crushed.
The Frenchwoman started strongly, using her powerful serving to keep Halep at bay for much of the first set.
But with the scores finely poised at 5-5, the Romanian ramped up the pressure and reeled off 12 of the last 14 points to seal the set.
The second set was a more one-sided affair, with Halep breaking three times to race to a 7-5 6-1 victory in just 88 minutes.
The top seed had 19 winners and just 12 unforced errors in the encounter, and will now face Australia's Ashleigh Barty in the semi-finals.
Number 15 seed Barty ended an impressive run from Kiki Bertens, beating the Dutch number one 6-3 6-1.
Bertens, who had dismissed top-10 seeds Karolina Pliskova and Petra Kvitova on her way to the last eight, struggled with 31 unforced errors and never faced a break point against her opponent.
Barty took a single break of serve in the first set, before breaking three times in the second and capitalising on her first match point.
Meanwhile, defending champion Elina Svitolina continued her run of form - rallying from 4-0 down in the first set to beat Belgium's Elise Mertens.
The No 5 seed used her impressive forehand to turn the match around, needing four breaks of serve to clinch the first set.
She then saved a break point in the opening game of the second before pulling ahead at 4-3 and claiming a 7-5 6-3 win.
Svitolina will meet reigning US Open champion Sloane Stephens in the semi-finals, after the American thrashed Anastasija Sevastova.
Stephens lost just four games and struck 18 winners on her way to a 6-2 6-2 victory in just 69 minutes.
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