By Pritha Sarkar
LONDON (Reuters) – There has been no stopping Simona Halep at this year’s Wimbledon as the Romanian produced another eye-catching performance to surge into the semi-finals with a 6-2 6-4 win over American Amanda Anisimova on Wednesday.
The 2019 champion did not exactly give the fans who had forked out 175 pounds ($208) for a Centre Court ticket value for money as she toppled a shellshocked Anisimova in 63 minutes to reach her third semi-final at the All England Club.
After Halep had wrapped up the first set when Anisimova banged a service return long, the American was left rejecting one racket after another into her red bag as she was broken for the fourth time to trail 4-1 in the second set.
The 30-year-old Halep was broken while serving for the match at 5-1 and Anisimova had her 0-40 down when she tried again at 5-3.
But a few hard-hitting slaps to her thigh at 15-40 down got Halep’s legs moving again and the 16th seed secured victory when Anisimova swiped a backhand long.
She will next meet either Ajla Tomljanovic or Kazakh 17th seed Elena Rybakina.
(Reporting by Pritha Sarkar, editing by Ed Osmond)
