Australian Open: Simona Halep and Garbine Muguruza complete semi-finals
With Simona Halep and Garbine Muguruza , two two-time Grand Slam champions have reached the final round of the Australian Open 2020 .
by SID
last edit: Jan 29, 2020, 04:51 am
The two-time Grand Slam winners Simona Halep and Garbine Muguruza contest the second semi-final duel at the Australian Open. Halep, third in the world rankings from Romania, defeated Johanna Kontaveit from Estonia in just 53 minutes with 6: 1, 6: 1. The Spanish Muguruza, currently only number 32 in the WTA ranking, won 7: 5, 6: 3 against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia), who had previously defeated Angelique Kerber .
"It will be a tough match," said Muguruza, winner at Wimbledon 2017 and at the French Open 2016, about the upcoming duel with Halep. The second semi-final will be won by world number one Ashleigh Barty (Australia) and number 14 seeded Sofia Kenin (USA), who had already played their quarter-final matches on Tuesday. Both games will take place on Thursday (from midnight CET).
First semifinals for Muguruza in Melbourne
Halep has reached the round of four in one of the four major tournaments for the eighth time, for the second time in Melbourne. Last year she won the French Open at Wimbledon, 2018. Muguruza is in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam for the fifth time, for the first time at the Australian Open.
"I am happy that I was able to play my best tennis. I felt great," said Halep, who won eleven games in a row after a 1-0 lead at Kontaveit, number 28. Muguruza had to fight 1:33 hours to reach the semi-finals at temperatures around 27 degrees.
Halep had reached the final of the Australian Open two years ago, but lost to Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) there. In 2017 (against Jelena Ostapenko / Latvia) and 2014 (against Maria Sharapova / Russia), she lost the final of the French Open. Muguruza failed in the 2015 Wimbledon final against Serena Williams (USA).
Here is the single tableau for women
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