TORONTO -- Simona Halep defeated Sara Errani 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday afternoon to advance to the women's final at the Rogers Cup.
The second-seeded Romanian needed one hour 35 minutes to complete the victory on a hot, sunny afternoon at Aviva Centre. Halep took several weeks off after a first-round loss at Wimbledon and feels refreshed and energized since her return.
"I've had a great week," Halep said. "And you know, when you come to the tournaments without expectations, you are more relaxed and you have to play without pressure, play (like) during the practices and just trying to play your best every match.
"So I did this and I don't know how I'm in the finals, to be honest. But it's nice and I have just enjoyed (it)."
Halep will next play the winner of the evening semifinal between top-seeded American Serena Williams and Swiss teenager Belinda Bencic. The final at the US$2.51-million hardcourt tournament is scheduled for Sunday afternoon.
Halep was boosted by a large group of vocal, flag-waving Romanian fans on Centre Court. She had a 26-9 edge in winners over the 15th-seeded Italian and her consistency paid off.
Both players seemed content to pound it out from the baseline. Errani has tremendous retrieval skills but her spin-heavy serve lacks power and Halep took advantage.
On occasion, Errani's second serve dipped as low as 96 kilometres per hour. That gave Halep plenty of time to position herself and deliver powerful returns.
Down 3-4 in the second set, the Italian played a more aggressive style and forced a double-break point. Halep fought back to deuce but double-faulted on another break point to put the set back on serve.
However, Errani couldn't generate any momentum after the break. She floated a serve at 30-30 that Halep put away and the Romanian broke back before serving out for the match.
Halep, who was wilting in the early afternoon heat, dropped to her knees in relief after converting match point.
"I was tired," she said. "A set and 4-2 (up), I had no more power. But you know sometimes if you push yourself more and you stay there to fight for every ball, you can finish it."
In the early doubles semifinal, third-seeded American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic posted a 6-4, 7-6 (5) win over Kristina Mladenovic of France and Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic.
Top-seeded Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Sania Mirza of India were scheduled to play fourth-seeded Caroline Garcia of France and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia in the late doubles semifinal.
Former WTA star Justine Henin was to be inducted in the Rogers Cup Hall of Fame before the match.
