Halep stops Muguruza to reach third French Open final

PARIS (Reuters): Top seed Simona Halep reached her third French Open final when she stopped hard-hitting Spaniard Garbine Muguruza in her tracks with a 6-1 6-4 semi-final victory yesterday.

The Romanian, who will also keep hold of the world number one ranking as a result of the victory, made a flying start and was 5-0 in quick time as Muguruza made some wild errors.

Muguruza ratcheted up the intensity in the second set and broke in the third game when a powerful return forced an error, only for Halep to fight her way back to level at 4-4.

A marathon ninth game proved pivotal as Halep saved three break points to pile the pressure on the third seed.

Halep then seized her chance, moving 0-40 ahead and then raising her arms in triumph as Muguruza blazed a backhand long.

Halep has been beaten in all of her previous major final appearances, including at Roland Garros last year by Jelena Ostapenko.