Sports

Halep, Muguruza set up French Open semi-final; Nadal in limbo

World number one Simona Halep is two wins away from her maiden grand slam singles title after defeating Angelique Kerber at the French Open to set up a semi-final against Garbine Muguruza.

Halep went from out-of-sorts to on-target against Kerber, scrambling to every ball and staying the course to erase an early deficit.

She pointed her right index finger at her temple when she eventually completed a 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-2 comeback.

"I never gave up. So I think that's why I won today. My head won it," Halep said.

Muguruza's big strokes overwhelmed Maria Sharapova right from the start and their quarter-final was no contest at all in a 6-2, 6-1 one-way journey.

Muguruza leads Halep 3-1 head-to-head, but this is their first grand slam match-up. The winner earns a berth in the final at Roland Garros, plus the number one ranking that currently belongs to Halep.

"I have just to stay strong, to try to make her uncomfortable on court and to try to play my game," Halep said.

Simona Halep says she has "no pressure" as she remains on course for her first grand slam singles title.

Muguruza had lost all three previous times she faced Sharapova, whose five grand slam titles include two at Roland Garros.

But she has not dropped a set in this year's tournament and dominated Sharapova with booming groundstrokes and superb returning that earned six breaks.

"When you're facing somebody that also has an aggressive style of game I think it's about who takes the command, who takes the first opportunity," Muguruza said.

Garbine Muguruza chases down a shot from Maria Sharapova.

Sharapova did not play a point in the fourth round, because Serena Williams pulled out of their much-anticipated showdown with an injured chest muscle.

The women got their matches done before rain arrived at Roland Garros, leaving the men's quarter-finals suspended in progress.

That might very well have been a relief to 10-time champion Rafael Nadal, who was not at his best and dropped a French Open set for the first time since 2015.

Nadal lost the opener 6-4 against 11th-seeded Diego Schwartzman but began to play better after a rain delay of just under an hour.

Nadal was serving for the second set at 5-3, 30-15, when another shower came and action was halted for the day.

In the other men's quarter-final, number three Marin Cilic and number five Juan Martin del Potro were at 5-all in a first-set tie breaker when the match-up of past US Open champions was stopped.

Nadal was serving for the second set when rain halted play.

AP

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