(Toronto) Former world No. 1 Simona Halep reached the National Bank Open final on Saturday, beating Jessica Pegula 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in Toronto.
Posted at 3:51 p.m.
Champion in Montreal in 2016 and 2018, the 30-year-old Romanian ended the debate on her first match point, when Pegula sent a backhand into the net.
This last game of the match was a reflection of the turn the match took from the second set.
In the tiebreak, Pegula lost a rally where she landed a searing, deep forehand parallel, seemingly perfect, but still brought into play by Halep.
Each player had five breaks, but Halep had three in the third set.
PHOTO DAN HAMILTON, USA TODAY SPORTS
Jessica Pegula
The Romanian overcame 10 double faults to win in two hours and 14 minutes.
The victory will allow him to reintegrate the top 10she who is the 15e seeded at Sobeys Stadium.
In the final, Halep will play against Beatriz Haddad Maia or Karolina Pliskova, who will face each other in the evening.
Pliskova is the 14e headliner at the Toronto tournament.
Halep will play a first final since January in Melbourne, in a preparatory tournament for the Australian Open.
Halep led 2-0 in the second set, before winning the engagement by lodging a ball on the baseline.
She continued to show her intentions in the third set — including breaking Pegula zero in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead.
Halep has 37 wins this year. She is second in the WTA in this chapter, tied with Ons Jabeur.
In doubles, the Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski and the Mexican Giulana Olmos will play in the semi-finals on Saturday evening, against Ellen Perez and Nicole Melichar-Martinez.