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Simona Halep. PA
Centre Court

Former champion Halep progresses to Wimbledon semi-finals

The 30-year-old will face Elena Rybakina, who became the first player representing Kazakhstan to reach a Grand Slam semi-final.

FORMER CHAMPION SIMONA Halep eased past Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 6-4 to reach her third Wimbledon semi-final on Wednesday without dropping a set in the tournament so far.

The Romanian 16th seed, who won the title in 2019, broke the American’s serve four times in the match, wrapping up victory in just over an hour.

Halep said she was playing her best tennis since she won her second Grand Slam at the All England Club three years ago.

“Definitely this is my best tennis,” she said. “I am trying to build my confidence back, and it’s good.”

It’s great to be back in the semi-finals,” added the former world number one. “I’m very emotional right now. It means a lot.”

The 30-year-old took charge early in the match on Centre Court, racing into a 5-1 lead and taking the set 6-2.

It was a similar tale in the second set, with Halep again dominating and going 5-1 up with a double break.

Anisimova dug deep, earning her own break of serve when Halep served for the match but the Romanian stayed calm to serve out for the win.

Halep will face Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina in the last four. 

wimbledon-2022-day-ten-all-england-lawn-tennis-and-croquet-club Elena Rybakina during her match against Ajla Tomljanovic. PA PA

Russian-born Rybakina became the first player representing Kazakhstan to reach a Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon when she defeated Ajla Tomljanovic in three sets.

Rybakina came through 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 and will face Halep for a place in Saturday’s women’s final.

The 23-year-old switched nationality in 2018 while this year Russian and Belarusian players are banned from Wimbledon following the invasion of Ukraine.

– © AFP 2022

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