London: Former champion Simona Halep eased past Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 6-4 to reach her third Wimbledon semi-final on Wednesday without dropping a set in the tournament so far. She will face Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina in the semi-finals on Thursday.
The Romanian 16th seed, who won the title in 2019, broke the American’s serve four times in the match, wrapping up victory in just over an hour.
Halep said she was playing her best tennis since she won her second Grand Slam at the All England Club three years ago.
“Definitely this is my best tennis,” she said. “I am trying to build my confidence back, and it’s good.”
“It’s great to be back in the semi-finals,” added the former world number one. “I’m very emotional right now. It means a lot.”
The 30-year-old took charge early in the match on Centre Court, racing into a 5-1 lead and taking the set 6-2.
It was a similar tale in the second set, with Halep again dominating and going 5-1 up with a double break.
Anisimova dug deep, earning her own break of serve when Halep served for the match but the Romanian stayed calm to serve out for the win.
Later, Rybakina recovered from a shaky start to overwhelm Australian Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6 6-2 6-3 to set up a semi-final date with Halep, becoming the first Kazakhstan player to reach the last four of a Grand Slam.
The first set was close but swung on the third game when, after five deuces Tomljanovic broke before serving strongly to take it 6-4.
Rybakina, 23, broke early in the second and though Tomljanovic’s athletic court coverage enabled her to hit straight back, the tall Kazak then took total command, breaking to love to win the second on the back of 11 straight points.
Rybakina, who took her tournament ace tally into the 40s with another 15, cranked up the pressure in the decider, taking a 3-0 lead after winning seven games in a row, and breaking again for 5-1.
Although her progress was briefly held up, she served out brilliantly and fittingly finished the match with an ace.
