The 2015 Rogers Cup runner up Halep defeated Germany’s world no. 2 after a 6-0, 3-6, 6-2 three-set victory.
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Kerber and Halep will meet in the semifinals on Saturday.
Pavlyuchenkova beat fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.
The Serbian admitted he was lucky to advance after saving seven of eight break points.
“I want to say thank you to my team”. “My serve just wasn’t right today”. “I don’t know, I wanted to make something big with the serve”. I wish today went a little bit differently. I must be pleased with the way I hung in there.
Wawrinka topped South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 6-1, 6-3.
“She was playing more consistently than me the whole match”, said Kerber.
“It was not my best tennis because I couldn’t play my best tennis”. “I had a lot of treatments when I came here”.
Halep then held her serve again to forge a 3-0 lead and as Keys continued to hit her forehand both wide and long at regular intervals, the Romanian served for the title at 5-3 up.
Simona Halep powers past Madison Keys in straight sets to win the women’s final of the Rogers Cup in Montreal.
The Australian Open victor will face fifth-seeded Simona Halep of Romania, a 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 victor over No. 9 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russian Federation.
She said: “I knew that it was going to be a tough one, always when I play against her it was a tough match”.
“Mentally I’m pretty strong”, said Halep after the match.
Halep, who struggled on serve much of the first set, played an impressive tiebreak to seal the opening set, spurring her on to a comprehensive second set to seal the crown.
The Romanian improves to 32-12 on the season and will bid for her 14th career title and third of this season against either Madison Keys or Kristina Kucova in Sunday’s final. While Kerber encountered little resistance against Russia’s Kasatinka she said Halep would be another matter.
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“Actually, when I started the tournament, I said with the prize money from doubles I will go shopping”, she said with a laugh. “She’s a very good player”. Kucova, the world’s 112th-ranked player, had knocked off two seeded players as well as local favourite Eugenie Bouchard en-route to the semifinal in her career-best performance. “I can not believe it, I’m so happy”. “It feels like being in Europe, like I’ve said many times”.
