Simona Halep on Friday served twice for her match against Coco Gauff without success before finally securing a 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) quarter-final victory at the WTA Toronto Masters.
The former No. 1, a two-time winner in Canada, made hard work of her triumph over the rising American teenager, who just missed a chance at cracking the world ranking top-10 for the first time.
Halep needed a second-set tiebreaker to advance into the semi-finals in just under two hours, lining up a meeting with seventh-seeded American Jessica Pegula, who defeated Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-3.
Photo: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY
Double Grand Slam champion Halep earned her 183rd match win at the Masters 1000 level.
“I’m really pleased with the way I stayed strong mentally,” Halep said.
“I fought for every point. That was really important, because she was doing the same thing. It’s never easy against her,” she added.
In other quarter-final action, Brazil’s giant-killer Beatriz Haddad Maia claimed another victim as she upset Olympic champion Belinda Bencic with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 comeback win.
The South American, who stunned world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the third round, won her 16th match since June, the month in which she claimed back-to-back grass titles in Nottingham and Birmingham.
Bencic was broken four times and coughed up five double-faults.
“I’m feeling happy, for sure, it’s a special moment,” Haddad Maia said. “I’ve worked a lot every day for a few years to live this moment.”
“I didn’t start the match playing as I wanted,” she said. “I was missing more than normal in the first set, but I pushed myself to stay positive, to stay in the game — a tennis match can change very fast.”
The Brazilian will aim for the final against Karolina Pliskova, a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 winner over Chinese teenager Zheng Qinwen.
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