Rome (AFP)
Simona Halep, seeded No.1, is the first to qualify for the semi-finals of the tennis tournament in Rome, after the retirement of Kazakhe Yulia Putintseva on Saturday in the second set of their quarter-final.
The Romanian largely dominated the match (6-2, 2-0, after 45 minutes of play) when Putintseva, recent quarter-finalist of the US Open, signaled that she gave up and came to greet her.
Halep thus aligns without forcing his 12th consecutive victory, a series which began before the interruption of competition due to coronavirus with a title in Dubai in February and continued in the recovery with his title in Prague in August and his three wins in Rome this week.
The seeded N.1 had chosen not to participate in the hard tournaments in New York in particular to better prepare for Roland-Garros, which begins in a little over a week.
Halep will meet in the semifinals on Sunday, the Belarusian Victoria Arazenka (14th world) or the Spanish Garbine Muguruza (17th).
© 2020 AFP