Halep powers past Zheng in Melbourne, will face Kudermetova in final following Osaka withdrawal

Simona Halep made quick work of Qinwen Zheng at the Melbourne Summer Set I on Saturday, powering through to the final in dominant fashion.

The former World No.1 looked great in her 6-3 6-2 win, breaking Zheng in the opening service game and never looking back. Halep displayed the consistency and shot-making prowess that has endeared her to thousands of fans around the world, as she outplayed her Chinese opponent.

Zheng was unable to prevent the Romanian's onslaught, as Halep attacked the second serve and capitalized on 4 of 5 break point opportunities. The outcome was fairly obvious at the start of the second set, with the two-time Grand Slam champion winning 9 of 12 point's on Zheng's second serve, before closing out the match after an hour and 24 minutes.

Halep will face Veronika Kudermetova in Sunday's final, as the Russian earned a walkover victory over top seed Naomi Osaka in their semifinal match. Osaka released a statement on Twitter a few hours before the match, citing an abdominal injury due to the "intense" matches she had played in Melbourne.

The Melbourne Summer Set II semifinals saw American Amanda Anisimova defeat Russian Daria Kasatkina to reach her first final since 2019. Anisimova will face either compatriot Ann Li or Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the final on Sunday.