Rome, May 19 (IANS) World No.4 tennis player Simona Halep on Friday defeated Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit to enter the semifinals of the Italian Open here.

Halep, recent champion of the Madrid Open, needed one hour and 20 minutes to win 6-2, 6-4 against Kontaveit, who recently eliminated World No.1 Angelique Kerber, of Germany, from the tournament, reports Efe.

The Romanian returns to a semifinal at the Foro Italico after playing in 2013 and 2015, when she lost to American Serena Williams and Spanish Carla Suarez.

Halep now awaits her rival in the next round, which is set to be the winner of the duel between Dutch Kiki Bertens and Australian Daria Gavrilova.

–IANS
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