Wimbledon 2019: Simona Halep defeats Shuai Zhang in straight sets to reach first SW19 semi-final in five years

The former world number one eventually broke the resistance of her opponent after a rocky start to their quarter-final

Simona Halep was briefly lost in the shadows that loomed over Court One as Shuai Zhang caught the Romanian in an early storm during their quarter-final. But, after racing to a 4-1 lead, the context of the entire match changed within one point as the jarred door presented to the ill-favoured number one was slammed resoundingly shut.

Having gritted her teeth through four nervy breakpoints, Halep bore down on a misflighted return and uncorked a forehand with a backswing that stretched halfway to home in Constanta and had until then otherwise deserted her. From there on, with the racket that silenced the dreams of Cori Gauff yesterday reawakened, Halep unleashed a barrage of baseline power-hitting as she surged to an impressive 7-6 6-1 victory and secured a first semi-final berth at Wimbledon for the first time in five years.

Despite the 43-place chasm between the pair in the world rankings, Zhang came into this match with a 2-1 edge over Halep and that advantage told in the match’s early exchanges, played out through drumming groundstrokes from almost exclusively three-feet behind the baseline. The former world number one’s slight advantage in strength was overshadowed by an early lack of precision as Zhang tugged the Romanian back-and-forth across the baseline in a game of rope-a-dope before a driven forehand flicked off the inside of the tramline for the first break of serve.

The tenacious Chinese number one continued with authority and remained undaunted by the crowd on Court One, despite playing just the second Grand Slam quarter-final of her 16-year professional career and pounced on Halep’s serve, taking each shot on the rise and preventing the Romanian from settling into a rhythm.

Halep was dragged to deuce in each of her following service games as every point descended into a metronome of enduring cross-court rallies, with Zhang’s ceaseless energy helping her to recover every last ball and Halep sunk into a sea of unlikely errors.

But it was that the fifth game that Halep’s brilliant winner finally sparked her into full-gear and the swing of this match turned irrevocably. A frenetic rally was won with a barrage of forehands as Halep finally broke the tide of Zhang’s looping defence and an ensuing avalanche of precise winners secured the returning break of serve in the following game.

As the first-set reached a tie-break after almost an hour’s play, Halep finally capitalised on Zhang’s faltering consistency as the 30-year-old’s 20th and 21st unforced errors – both routine forehands from the centre of the court – nosedived into the net-cord, the match started to slip away. Moments later, an emphatic forehand winner drew a defiant roar as Halep clinched the tie-break 7-4.

Simona Halep produced another impressive performance (Getty)

After drawing first blood, Halep dictated the pace of the second set and an increasingly wayward Zhang’s poise deserted her as her resistance evaporated. After scraping through her first service game, she was broken twice as Halep hugged the tramlines, lapped-up short balls and raced to an unassaible 5-1 lead in little more than 20 minutes.

Her fleeting window of opportunity was long forgotten as Zhang trudged off court despondently. Meanwhile, Halep canters into the semi-finals on the back of another great blaze, where the ill-favoured winner of Elina Svitolina and Karolina Muchova’s quarter-final awaits.