Just over two weeks before the US Open, where she never did better than a semi-final in 2015, the year in which she was also a finalist in Toronto, the Romanian (15th in the world) confirms her good summer, marked by a semi-final at Wimbledon.

And more generally his return to form, a year after leaving the Top 10 due to a series of injuries (shoulder, thigh...).

Twice winner of the Canadian Open, in 2016 and 2018, editions then played in Montreal, Halep qualified on Saturday for her 18th final of a WTA 1000, an event ranked just below the Grand Slams, by knocking down 2 -6, 6-3, 6-4 the American Jessica Pegula (7th).

After this success, she did not hide her satisfaction: "We had never played against each other before, so I didn't really know what to expect. It was a great fight. I'm really happy not to have gone through it. I can improve. But I'm gaining confidence, I'm building my game, and I'm really happy to be in this position".

experience and resistance

The former world No.1 (in 2017), winner of Roland-Garros (2018) and Wimbledon (2019), will aim for a 9th title in a WTA 1000, she who has won 23 in all categories on the circuit.

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Halep, 30, finally made his experience speak, after resisting the very attacking start of the match from Pegula, semi-finalist last year in Montreal and who hoped to win a second title in 2022 after the tournament. of Washington in 2019.

Annoyed at the start of the match by her unforced errors, in particular her 3rd and 4th double faults which each time gave her opponent a break, Halep pulled herself together after the loss of the first set.

The one who had not lost any set of the tournament so far was able to make the exchanges last and pushed Pegula to make a few mistakes.

Managed to escape 4-1, the Romanian had to erase four break points to then equalize.

In the more consistent third set, Halep continued her momentum to escape 5-2, but with courage, Pegula unbroken, then saved two match points on her serve.

This provoked the ire of the Romanian, who angrily swept her racket on the cement, before regaining control and finishing the job on her third opportunity, after 2:14.

"The Fire is Back"

"The fire is back, it's a good sign if I do this," she smiled afterwards.

She will have to be wary of Beatriz Haddad Maia (24th in the world), who proved to be very solid to push aside another former world N.1 (also in 2017) 6-4, 7-6 (9/7), in the person of the Czech Karolina Pliskova (14th).

The 26-year-old Brazilian, who notably offered herself the scalp of world No.1 Iga Swiatek in 8th, is experiencing an emergence as sudden as it is late on the circuit, since she has won the first three tournaments of her career this season. , in Saint-Malo, Birmingham and Nottingham.

And now she reached the final of a WTA 1000 for the first time, making her the first player from her country to do so.

For their third meeting, each having won a game so far, Haddad Maia put Pliskova under pressure from the start by going away 5-1.

Bandaged in one thigh, the 30-year-old Czech came back to 5-4, without however preventing the Brazilian from winning the first set.

Pliskova, a finalist at the Canada Open last year in Montreal, showed better in the second half, but at 5-3, two points from the set, she lost her footing.

In the tie-break, hotly contested, the Brazilian was able to erase an equalizer in one set everywhere, before finally winning on her second match point in 2:03.

© 2022 AFP