Halep, Muguruza set to meet in semifinal
MELBOURNE, Australia — A pair of twotime major winners will play for a spot in the Australian Open final after No. 4 Simona Halep and unseeded Garbiñe Muguruza won their quarterfinals in straight sets Wednesday.
Both have won Wimbledon and the French Open and have been ranked No. 1, and are bidding for their first hardcourt Grand Slam title.
“Any Grand Slam, it’s a priority. I will not just choose one,” Halep said. “But, of course, it’s going to be great if I will be able to win one on hardcourt.”
Halep has been close before, losing the final in three sets at Melbourne Park to Caroline Wozniacki in 2018.
The 28yearold Romanian said that tough loss was the main push for her breakthrough win that year at Roland Garros, where she beat Muguruza in the semifinals.
Halep needed only 53 minutes Wednesday to beat Kontaveit, a firsttime major quarterfinalist, 61, 61.
“Perfection doesn’t exist, but I’m very happy with the way I played. I felt great on court. I was moving great. I felt the ball, like, really, really good,” she said. “It was a great match.”
Muguruza took a little more than 11⁄2 hours to eliminate No. 30 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 75, 63, with both players struggling with their serves in the sun. The win earned Muguruza a spot in the semifinals at Melbourne Park for the first time, and her first at any Grand Slam tournament since the French Open in ’18.
The loss dropped Pavlyuchenkova to 06 in quarterfinals at majors; she has entered 49 Slams without reaching the final four once.
There are three major winners in the last four, with reigning French Open champion Ash Barty playing No. 14 Sofia Kenin in the other women’s semifinal Thursday. Barty, topranked, is trying to end a drought for Australians at home: The last woman to win the singles championship was Chris O’Neil in 1978.
Halep spent her offseason away from home for the first time so she could focus fully on 2020 and her quest for a third major title. “No days off,” Halep said. Kontaveit held the opening game at love. From then on, it was all one way as Halep went on a relentless, 11game roll.
Halep worked for every point and faced only one break point, fending it off with a commanding forehand winner.
In the second set, Halep won the longest rally of the match — a 25shot exchange — and then followed it with an ace on the way to a 50 lead.
“I felt great today on court. I feel my game. I feel strong on my legs. I’ve been focused, every point,” Halep said.
“This year, I’ve started very well,“she said. “I’m feeling much stronger than before.”
Seeded fourth, Halep has advanced to the last four without dropping a set, and said she feels like she’s playing her best tennis.
Topranked Rafael Nadal was scheduled to play his quarterfinal Wednesday night against fifthseeded Dominic Thiem, the man he has beaten in the past two French Open finals. Stan Wawrinka, the 2014 Australian Open champion, was taking on seventhseeded Alexander Zverev in an afternoon quarterfinal.
Navratilova, McEnroe apologize: Martina Navratilova and John McEnroe have apologized for breaching Australian Open protocols with their oncourt campaign to have Margaret Court Arena renamed. But the TV analysts aren’t sorry about the message.
Navratilova climbed up the umpire’s chair at the stadium Tuesday and started to address spectators, but organizers cut off the live feed. Navratilova and McEnroe then unfurled a banner reading, “Evonne Goolagong Arena.”
Navratilova frequently has objected to Court having the stadium named after her, citing her antigay comments, and wants the arena to be named after Evonne Goolagong, the Australian former world No. 1.
Tennis Australia responded by saying it embraced diversity but had regulations and protocols to ensure the integrity of the tournament, and “two highprofile guests have breached these protocols.”
Navratilova apologized Wednesday on Tennis Channel, saying, “I got in trouble. I am sorry I broke protocol. I had no idea there was this kind of protocol.”