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Experience pays off for Halep in Canadian win over Pegula / Photo: © GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Experience pays off for Halep in Canadian win over Pegula
Simona Halep put years of big match experience to good use on Saturday as she overhauled Jessica Pegula 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the final of the WTA Toronto Masters.
The former world number one from Romania who won 2016 and 2018 trophies in Canada showed her definitive return to form with the victory after dropping from the top 10 in the rankings a year ago due to injury.
Halep needed two and a quarter hours to knock out American Pegula, at seventh the highest-ranked player left in the field.
The 30-year-old winner of Roland Garros and Wimbledon titles could return to sixth in the world if she wins the Sunday final against either Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia or 2021 Czech finalist Karolina Pliskova.
Halep lost the opening set against Pegula in 35 minutes but levelled at a set apiece thanks to an early break in the second.
Halep missed two match points on her opponent's serve and swiped her racquet angrily on the cement as Pegula held for 4-5 in the third.
But the two-time Grand Slam champion clinched the win on her third opportunity as Pegula hit the net with a return.
Halep saved 12 of the 17 break points she faced as she earned her 37th victory this season while playing in her seventh semi-final of 2022.
Z.Phillips--SFF
