Simona Halep produced a dominant display to ease past Karolina Pliskova in the Australian Open quarter-finals on Wednesday.
The world number one was in impressive form on Rod Laver Arena, needing just 71 minutes to beat Pliskova 6-3 6-2 and move into her first semi-final at Melbourne Park.
Incredibly, Pliskova raced out to a 3-0 lead, only for Halep to reel off nine consecutive games to take complete control.
Halep had won five of the previous six matches between the pair, and the Romanian improved that already impressive record.
Battling an ankle injury in Melbourne, Halep – still eyeing her first major title – moved into a fifth career grand slam semi-final.
Halep, 26, made few mistakes to set up a last-four clash against Angelique Kerber.
While Pliskova made a fast start to lead 3-0, the Czech's 10 forehand unforced errors were costly in the first set.
She reduced her errors slightly in the second, but Halep remained consistent to ease into the semi-finals.
STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN
Halep [1] bt Pliskova [6] 6-3 6-2
WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Halep – 20/10
Pliskova – 21/28
ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Halep – 0/4
Pliskova – 2/3
BREAK POINTS WON
Halep – 5/10
Pliskova – 1/4
FIRST SERVE PERCENTAGE
Halep – 63
Pliskova – 66
PERCENTAGE OF POINTS WON ON FIRST/SECOND SERVE
Halep – 76/45
Pliskova – 55/32
TOTAL POINTS
Halep – 69
Pliskova – 49
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