Share

Halep topples Garcia to reach Montreal semis

Montreal - World number one Simona Halep punched her ticket to the semi-finals of the WTA Canada tournament for the fourth straight year, cruising past France's Caroline Garcia 7-5, 6-1 on Friday.

The 26-year-old Halep battled through a difficult first set, then easily won the second in a rematch of last year's quarter-final contest with Garcia which was also won by the Romanian.

"The first set was really tough," Halep said. "I just didn't give up at all in the first set. After I took it, I felt more confident.

"I felt that I'm moving better, I'm playing better, stronger. [Garcia] went a little bit down with energy after she lost that set."

The top-seeded Halep hammered 19 winners and won 77 percent of points on her first serve in the 88-minute contest.

Garcia started quickly but could not keep her unforced errors in check, finishing with a total of 31. She earned her only career win over Halep in five previous meetings in the 2017 WTA Beijing final.

Halep moves on to the final four where she will face Aussie Ashleigh Barty, who ousted giant-killer Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands in straight sets 6-3, 6-1.

Halep, the 2016 tournament champion, was playing her third match in the past two days after earning two wins on Thursday over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and 38-year-old Venus Williams.

After the match Halep slammed the WTA about her scheduling, saying she regularly has less time to recover from matches than her opponents.

"I am very upset about it," said Halep, who is first up on the Montreal courts on Saturday. "I talked to my team about this and all of them are upset... I never complained about the schedule, but today was enough."

On Friday, Halep broke Garcia in the fifth game of the second set for a 4-1 lead and had no trouble icing the win from there.

World number 16 Barty reached the semi-finals by reeling off nine of the last 10 games against Bertens.

"I never played against [Barty], so I don't really know what to expect," said Halep. "But I know she's very talented. I just have to talk to my coach tomorrow before the match, trying to stay stronger on my legs, and trying to be with the energy at the highest level."

Barty was the more composed player in difficult, windy conditions as Bertens, who had seen off ninth seed Karolina Pliskova and eighth-seeded Petra Kvitova in her previous two matches, was undone by 31 unforced errors in the 55-minute quarter-final.

Barty has reached the semi-finals on her Montreal debut having made the last 16 when the event was held in Toronto last year.

"It was really tricky conditions and we were both struggling a little," Barty said.

"I'm very happy to come through and get a little bit better during the match."

US Open champion Sloane Stephens was just as ruthless as Barty in her quarter-final as the third-seeded American made the semi-finals for the second straight year, seeing off Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 6-2, 6-2.

"I've been playing well and it's a good start here to the US Open Series. I'm happy to be back in North America and playing on hard courts, and I'm hoping for some more good results," said Stephens.

Stephens will face defending champion Elina Svitolina, who came back from an 0-4 deficit in the first set to eliminate Elise Mertens 7-5, 6-3.

Results of the WTA tournament in Montreal on Friday (x denotes seeded player):

Quarter-finals

Ashleigh Barty (AUS x15) bt Kiki Bertens (NED) 6-3, 6-1

Sloane Stephens (USA x3) bt Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) 6-2, 6-2

Simona Halep (ROU x1) bt Caroline Garcia (FRA x6) 7-5, 6-1

Elina Svitolina (UKR x5) bt Elise Mertens (BEL x14) 7-5, 6-3

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should Siya Kolisi keep the captaincy as the Springboks build towards their World Cup title defence in 2027?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Siya will only be 36 at the next World Cup. He can make it!
26% - 1273 votes
No! I think the smart thing to do is start again with a younger skipper ...
29% - 1470 votes
I'd keep Siya captain for now, but look to have someone else for 2027.
45% - 2249 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE