In a match which will decide who is favourite for the French Open crown, world No.1 Simona Halep and Garbine Muguruza will square off in the semi-finals. Join The Roar for live scores from 11pm (AEST).
Both have sparkling records at Roland Garros and at the top of the world rankings, will be keen to show exactly why in this hotly-anticipated showdown.
Halep is ranked first in the world and made the final here last year, losing in a shock upset to Jelena Ostapenko, but has just been a little bit up and down over the clay court season.
While she made the final in Rome and quarter-final in Madrid, some of her losses have seen her implode, going down to Karolina Pliskova and Elina Svitolina in straight sets. Her inconsistent preparation has been evident at Roland Garros, but is yet to cost her.
She started slowly in the first round against Alison Riske, dropping the first set and struggled past Angelique Kerber in the last, with lapses in concentration costing her. While she hasn’t quite spiralled out of control yet, the pressure which will undoubtedly be applied by Muguruza could send her down that path.
Muguruza wasn’t in the greatest touch either during the lead-up, but the difference stands that she has battered everyone in her way in Paris.
She is yet to drop a set and capped her run off to date with a huge 6-2, 6-1 victory over Maria Sharapova yesterday.
In a match which was supposed to go down to the wire, Muguruza broke early, then did it again and again in the straight-sets mauling.
Her defence at the baseline has been wonderful throughout the tournament, always making her opponent play extra balls and try to go for everything in an effort to put the Spaniard away.
It obviously hasn’t worked, but then, Halep will be her biggest challenge of the grand slam yet.
They have met on five previous occasions, with Halep winning their only one on clay but losing every other meeting.
Prediction
This is an incredibly difficult match to tip. Halep was in last year’s final, but then, Muguruza is a defending champion and knows what it takes to win big matches like this on clay. In something resembling her best form, she should take the win.
Muguruza in three sets.
Be sure to join The Roar for live scores of the first women’s semi-final from 11pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.
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