Simona Halep and Angelique Kerber advanced to the semifinals of the Rogers Cup and will have a rematch of their recent Wimbledon quarterfinal, which the German won in two tight sets.
The first to make the final four in Montreal was Halep, who has now won eight straight matches, following triumph on home soil in Bucharest. It was a tricky quarterfinal for the Romanian, with two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova on the other side of the net dictating play in the first set, that included her quick 4-0 lead. Even though Halep polished her game, got one break back and approached Kuznetsova to two games down, 3-5, the set went into the Russian’s hands with a precise forehand on the line at set point, that had to be confirmed through a challenge.
The fifth-seeded Halep completely turned the match around in the second set, breaking right away at its beginning and continuing the momentum to win with a weird 3-6 6-1 6-1 scoreline.
The second quarterfinal of the day was much less intriguing, as the second-seeded Kerber overpowered Daria Kasatkina 6-2 6-2. The 19-year-old underdog was not yet ready to notch the biggest victory of her career.
Halep leads Kerber 3-2 in their head-to-head stats. Kerber won both their 2016 meetings, but Halep won all their matches on hardcourts.
