BEIJING—Simona Halep took a step nearer overhauling Garbine Muguruza as world number one when the Romanian raced into the semi-finals of the China Open on Friday.
The second-ranked Halep eased past Russia’s unseeded Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 6-1 in Beijing and will face compatriot Sorana Cirstea or Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko in the last four.
The Spaniard Muguruza’s short stay at the top is under severe threat after she bowed out in the first round in the Chinese capital with a virus.
Halep is in red-hot form and claimed the scalp of former number one Maria Sharapova in the previous round — beating the Russian at the eighth attempt.
Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Japan, Belgium’s David Goffin battled back from a seemingly impossible first-set position against Frenchman Richard Gasquet on Friday to reach the Japan Open semi-finals.
In a Franco-Belgian clash that served as a foretaste of next month’s Davis Cup final, Goffin found himself 5-3 down and facing three set points against the former world number seven before coming through 7-5, 6-2 in Tokyo.
Goffin now faces eighth seed Diego Schwartzman from Argentina, who put an end to the impressive run of world number 46 Steve Johnson.
The American had caused the biggest surprise of the tournament so far by beating Austrian star Dominic Thiem in the first round but he struggled on service against Schwartzman, facing 17 break points. AFP
Next up was top seed Marin Cilic against American Ryan Harrison for a spot in the semi-finals.
Cilic’s path to the final was made considerably easier after third seed Milos Raonic was forced to withdraw on Thursday with a calf injury, the latest blip in what the Canadian described as a “difficult and frustrating year”.
The big-serving Croatian heads the Tokyo field this year at a tournament previously won by tennis greats such as Ken Rosewall, John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.