Halep survives Golubic in rollercoaster Melbourne encounter

Simona Halep dug deep into her reserves on Friday, overcoming a spirited effort from Viktorija Golubic to reach the semifinals at the Melbourne Summer Set I.

The former World No.1 was pushed to the limit by her Swiss opponent, but remained resilient to prevail in a 6-2 5-7 6-4 victory. Halep was able to overcome some poor serving that saw the Romanian hit 11 double faults, and somehow managed to save 15 break points during the entire match.

Despite some inconsistency from the second seed, she was able to capitalize on her opponent's shaky play in the final set, as Golubic herself hit four double faults in the third set, while winning just 5 of 18 points on her second serve.

Halep looked less than stellar in her quarterfinal win, but was able to rely on her championship pedigree when pushed to the wall. The World No.20 will face China's Qinwen Zheng for a spot in the final.