Former Wimbledon champion Halep into Birmingham semi-finals
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Simona Halep booked her place in the semi-finals of the WTA Birmingham grass-court event.
BIRMINGHAM (AFP) - Former Wimbledon champion Simona Halep booked her place in the semi-finals of the WTA Birmingham grass-court event with a straight sets win over Britain s Katie Boulter on Friday.
Boulter had been in career-best form at the tournament, defeating Alison Riske in the first round of the Wimbledon warm-up before knocking out former top-10 player Caroline Garcia.
But second seed Halep ultimately proved too strong in a 6-4, 6-1 victory.
The 30-year-old Romanian, however, did not have things all her own way in a tightly-contested first set.
Boulter, who only returned from nearly three months out with a leg injury at Nottingham last week, kept pace with Halep for the opening eight games.
The 25-year-old, to her credit, saved three break points at 4-4 only to double fault on the fourth.
That proved to be the cue for Halep to pull away in what is her first grass-court event since a superb straight sets win over Serena Williams in the 2019 Wimbledon final.
"She s clearly one of the best tennis players out there," said Boulter of Halep.
"So, for me to be able to stand out there and feel like I can compete and win the match -- I really did feel if I brought a bit more game today, then it would have been closer and it would have been a tough match for both of us."
Halep will now play Brazil s Hadda Maia -- winner of last week s Nottingham Open -- in the semi-finals.
The world number 32 extended her winning streak on grass to eight matches with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Italian third seed Camila Giorgi.
Sorana Cirstea made it a day of double celebration for Romania by also reaching the semi-finals after coming from a set down to defeat Donna Vekic 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
Cirstea will face Zhang Shuai in the last four following the Chinese eighth seed s 7-5, 6-4 win over Ukraine s Dayana Yastremska.
