Halep upsets Kerber to reach Rogers Cup final

Angelique Kerber of Germany returns a shot to Darya Kasatkina of Russian Federation during their Rogers Cup quarterfinal match at Uniprix Stadium in Montreal Friday.

Halep got to the semi-finals for a second year in a row.

Victory will take her from fifth to third in the world rankings, and secures a shot at Madison Keys or tournament surprise package Kristina Kucova in Sunday’s final.

The Romanian, 24, won 6-0, 3-6, 6-2 to avenge her Wimbledon quarterfinal defeat, making a particularly sharp start.

A frustrated Halep smashed her racket on the ground during the seventh game of the second set after squandering her 3-2 lead and her coach, Darren Cahill, gave her quiet words of advice during the changeover. “I was not too stressful after the first set”. Halep has beaten Kerber all four times they met on hard courts, but lost their two matches on other surfaces. After Williams rallied to tie the match, Keys found her serve in the third set, punctuating the win with an ace on match point.

Kerber took the first set 6-2 and kept the same momentum going into the second set. But she rebounded in the third to extend her longest run ever at the hardcourt event. The 25-year-old Konta has been on the rise in the last three seasons and won her first WTA tournament last week in Stanford, Calif., when she defeated Venus Williams in the final. All I can say is that I’m very happy I could win against her, because we always have tough matches.

As for facing Kerber again, Halep said: “It’s going to be a pretty tough one”. I think I’m ready for it.

I see Halep winning this match and it could be in straight sets if Kerber struggles with her service game.

Halep has been playing some high-quality tennis this week at the Coupe Rogers and she will not be competing at the Rio Olympics amid fears of the Zika virus and she is certainly a threat going forward at the US Open where she lost to eventual champion Flavia Pennetta in the semifinals past year. The American duo of Christina McHale and Asia Muhammad upset top-seeded Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza.