Serena Williams formidable against Halep, moves to semifinals

Serena Williams reached the Australian Open semifinal after defeating Simona Halep in straight sets.

It was a vintage Serena performance where she was able to navigate past a very tricky Simona who did not give up so easily. It took about 80 minutes for Serena to win the match 6-3 6-4. The opening set was an interesting one where Serena broke Halep immediately taking a 2-0 lead but the Romanian fired back quickly to make it 2-2. Nonetheless, it was Serena who kept up the pressure breaking Simona once more to take a 5-2 lead. From there it was a rather easy job for the American to clinch the opening set 6-3. Her aggressive playstyle proved key as she hit 14 winners to Halep's 4.

The 2nd set opened much better for Simona despite some early struggles on her opening service games. She found herself up 2-0 and it seemed she was back in business. After that, a proper battle ensued where we saw three breaks in a row which made the scoreline 3-3. It was a time for Halep to serve again but similar to the past two times she did she could not convert it and Serena was on top 4-3. She confirmed the break to make it 5-3 and it seemed like Serena was inches away from the semifinals.

In the end, she closed it out with another break to win the match 6-3 6-3 in about 80 minutes of play. A truly stunning display of tennis from Serena who dominated her opponent in rallies hitting double the number of winners. Her consistent play on her serve also proved key.