Classy Halep through to semi-finals in Rome
The in-form Simona Halep reached the semi-finals of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia with a clinical straight-sets victory over Anett Kontaveit on Friday.
The classy Halep won the Madrid Open last weekend after reaching the last four of the Stuttgart Open and could claim back-to-back titles in Rome after dispatching qualifier Kontaveit 6-2 6-4.
Kontaveit hammered Angelique Kerber in the second round, but was no match for Halep as the sixth seed gave another demonstration that she is capable of challenging for a first grand slam title at the French Open.
Either Kiki Bertens or Daria Gavrilova will stand in the way of the world number four and a place in another final at the Foro Italico this weekend.
.@Simona_Halep is first through to @InteBNLdItalia Semifinals!
— WTA (@WTA) May 19, 2017
Downs Kontaveit 6-2, 6-4! pic.twitter.com/W8NQNw49lb
Halep beat Kontaveit in the Miami Open recently and wasted no time in gaining the upper hand over the Estonian, breaking twice to take a 3-0 lead.
Kontaveit stopped the rot by breaking back with a powerful backhand winner down the line, but the Romanian was a set up in only 34 minutes.
Halep unleashed some brutal groundstrokes as she pressed home her advantage to surge into a 4-1 lead in the second, but Kontaveit broke back with another fierce backhand.
But the 2014 French Open runner-up's passage into the last four was secured when the battling Kontaveit fired a backhand wide.