World number one Simona Halep is through to the semifinals at the ongoing Cincinnati Masters tournament following his straight sets win over Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine.
The Romanian saw off Tsurenko 6-4 6-1 in their quarterfinal clash and will now face Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus who stunned American tennis star Madison Keys 6-3 6-4 to book her last four spot.
While speaking in her post-match press conference, Halep was delighted to have won both her last 16 and quarterfinal clashes on Friday.
She said:.It was a tough day.”
“I’m really tired. But I’m happy that I could win both of them. And the second one I think it was much better from 1-4, and, yeah, I feel confident now. I started to feel the game.
“After I won Montreal, I said that I want to come here to win some more matches.” Halep continued.
“because after winning a title is always the feeling that ‘Let’s do more.'”
Simona Halep has only met her next opponent Sabalenka once and that was during this year’s Shenzhen Open.
The French Open champion defeated the 20-year-old in straight sets in what was the first tournament of 2018.
On facing her again, Halep said: “I know it’s going to be different [than in Shenzhen] because [Sabalenka] has a lot of confidence now and she has beaten so many good players.”
“But I am confident in the same time. It’s going to be a big challenge for me after so many matches. Tomorrow it’s gonna be a tough one, but I’m here just to play it and I hope to win.” She concluded.
In the other semifinal, Dutch player Kiki Bertens will face Czech Republic star Petra Kvitova.
Bertens saw off Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-4 6-3 in their last eight clash, while Kvitova defeated Elise Mertens of Belgium 7-5 5-7 6-3 to secure her spot in the semifinals.
