Simona Halep became the first Romanian woman to reach a Wimbledon singles final, defeating Elina Svitolina, 6-1, 6-3.
It was a match full of extended rallies, but Halep’s consistency, marvelous two-handed backhand and deep focus made the difference.
Svitolina, who was playing in her first Grand Slam singles semifinal, and Halep have similar counterpunching styles. Both are fast with balanced baseline games. Svitolina had won four of their seven previous matches, with Halep winning their most recent duel: a draining three-setter in the semifinals in Doha this year.
But Halep fought her way through the tight and tense early games and then consistently found a higher gear.
She dealt the former No. 1 Victoria Azarenka a lopsided defeat in the third round, stopped the 15-year-old American Coco Gauff’s run in the fourth round and defeated Zhang Shuai of China in the quarterfinals.
In this form and mood, she should pose quite a threat to either Serena Williams or Barbora Strycova in Saturday’s final. Williams and Strycova are playing in the second semifinal.
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