Simona Halep made her way through to the semi-finals of the Birmingham Classic on Thursday. The Romanian, the second seed this week in the British tournament, defeated the home favourite, Katie Boulter, 6-4, 6-1 in an hour and 15 minutes.
Halep won only 56% of her first-serve points to Boulterās 60% but she did better in terms of second-serve points won, winning 67% to the Britonās 37%. Halep went on to save three of the four break points she faced while converting five break points on Boulterās serve.
Birmingham Classic: Beatriz Haddad Maia goes two-for-two
In the semi-finals, Halep will play Beatriz Haddad Maia. The Brazilian had to play two matches after her second-round match against Magdalena Frech that was scheduled for Wednesday had to be suspended and was postponed to Thursday, deep in the third set. At the time of its suspension, Frech was leading Haddad Maia in the third set. However, when play resumed on Friday, the southpaw stormed back into the match and went on to clinch it, 6-1, 5-7, 7-6(3).
Later, in her quarter-final against the third-seeded Camila Giorgi, Haddad Maia had an easier outing as she took out the Italian 6-3, 6-2 in an hour and 24 minutes. Going into the match against Halep, Haddad Maiaās on an eight-match winning streak.
Meanwhile, another Romanian, sixth seed Sorana Cirstea posted a comeback win in her last-eight clash against Donna Vekic. Cirstea won 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 29 minutes. Cirstea converted six break points on Vekicās serve while saving five of the 10 break points she faced.
For a place in the final of the Birmingham Classic, Cirstea will play eighth seed, Shuai Zhang, at the top of the draw. The Chinese ousted Dayana Yastremska in their quarter-final, 7-5, 6-4 in an hour and 16 minutes. Zhang won 74% of her first-serve points and 62% of her second-serve points to the Ukrainianās 64% and 48% respectively. Zhang also conceded her serve twice while converting four break points on Yastremskaās serve.