In- form Nadal sets up semi- final clash with del Potro

Paris, June 7: Simona Halep emphatically ended the impressive French Open run of 2016 champion Garbine Muguruza with a 6- 1, 6- 4 victory in the semi- finals on Thursday.

Now Halep gets a fourth chance to win her first Grand Slam title.

US Open champion Sloane Stephens defeated fellow American Madison Keys 6- 4, 6- 4 on Thursday to set up a French Open final against Halep.

Halep assured herself of retaining the no. 1 ranking and reached her third final at the Roland Garros. She lost both of the previous ones in three sets, to Maria Sharapova in 2014 and to Jelena Ostapenko in 2017.

The Romanian also came up one victory shy of a major championship at the Australian Open in January, beaten there by Caroline Wozniacki.

That means Saturday’s final at the French Open will be Halep’s third title match in the past five Grand Slam tournaments.

Muguruza, a two- time major champion, entered the semi- finals having not lost a set in the tournament. She also was coming off a lopsided victory in the quarter- finals a day earlier, overwhelming fivetime major champion Maria Sharapova 6- 2, 6- 1.

But it took Muguruza quite a while to get going against Halep, who managed to keep sending ball after ball back over the net.

In two rain- interrupted men’s quarter- finals that were suspended on Wednesday evening, no. 1 Rafael Nadal completed a 4- 6, 6- 3, 6- 2, 6- 2 comeback over 11th- seeded Diego Schwartzman, and no. 5 Juan Martin del Potro defeated no. 3 Marin Cilic 7- 6 ( 5), 5- 7, 6- 3, 7- 5.

Nadal reached his 11th French Open semi- final as he bids for a record- extending 11th title at the claycourt major. Del Potro got back to the semifinals in Paris for the first time since 2009.

They will play each other on Friday, when the other men’s semi- final is no. 7 Dominic Thiem of Austria against 72nd- ranked Marco Cecchinato of Italy.

“It’s tough to speak now,” said del Potro.

“I’ve been a long time without feeling good with my body. I had surgery three times on my wrist and I was close to quitting this sport. I don’t have words to explain what this means to me and my team,” he added. The fifth seed has now beaten Cilic eight times in a row.

Meanwhile, Nadal said “Pressure is good. You are able to control that. That pressure, that adrenaline, can be in a positive way.”

The 16- time Grand Slam champion was pushed for three hours and 42 minutes by 11th seed Schwartzman. — Agencies