MELBOURNE : Ekaterina Makarova continued her impressive rise as a grand slam contender by dismantling listless third seed Simona Halep 6-4 6-0 to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open today.
The 10th-seeded Russian, who made her maiden grand slam semi-final at the US Open last year, leaped on Romanian Halep’s serve, breaking her twice in the first set and three times in the second to roar to a 5-0 lead.
A shell-shocked Halep was utterly overwhelmed and meekly surrendered the match by crunching a backhand wide of the tramlines after 69 minutes.
Makarova will play the winner of Maria Sharapova and Eugenie Bouchard for a place in the final.
(AGENCIES)
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