Simona Halep blows away Anett Kontaveit in just 53 minutes to reach Australian Open semi-finals

Masterclass: Simona Halep needed only 53 minutes to beat Anett Kontaveit.
Reuters
Joe Krishnan29 January 2020

Simona Halep put on a ruthless display to beat Anett Kontaveit and reach the Australian Open semi-finals.

The Romanian broke early in the first set and never looked back, dominating rallies and serving accurately to put herself a set up inside half an hour at the Rod Laver Arena.

The second set was even more of a stroll for the 28-year-old, taking a double break and sealing a dominant 6-1, 6-1 victory in just 53 minutes on court.

Halep, a finalist in 2018 in Melbourne, will face either Garbine Muguruza or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the last four.

The Romanian came into the quarter-final in stunning form, having yet to drop a set in the tournament, while Kontaveit was making her first appearance in a Grand Slam quarter-final.

In Pictures | Australian Open 2020

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The difference in the approach was evident in the early moments as Kontaveit got on the board with some aggressive winners.

But when Halep broke in the third game, there was little doubt about who would go on to take the first set. The manner in how she achieved that, however, was unprecedented from the fourth seed.

She was striking the ball so hard the fibres began to unravel, batting into each corner and Kontaveit could not cope with the intensity her opponent was playing at.

Within 29 minutes, Halep had sealed the set in her favour but the best was yet to come. A double break inside 10 minutes and the match appeared to be all but over.

Kontaveit desperately tried to make a dent on Halep's serve but threw away her solitary break point as Halep stormed into a 5-0 lead.

The Estonian did finally break the 11-game winning streak, holding in the sixth game, but by this point the two-time Grand Slam winner was just biding here time before putting the finishing touches to a 53-minute masterclass.

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