Svitolina hammers Halep to reach Toronto final

Ukrainian Elina Svitolina crushed defending champion Simona Halep 6-1 6-1 on Saturday to reach the Rogers Cup final in Toronto where she will face Dane Caroline Wozniacki. Both Svitolina and Halep were competing on little rest after rain pushed their quarter-final clashes to Saturday but it was the Romanian who was worse for wear as she dropped her first set of the tournament en route to losing the match in 56 minutes.

#RogersCup @ElinaSvitolina beat defending champ Simona Halep 6-1, 6-1 while @CaroWozniacki stopped Sloane Stephens https://t.co/1Y6OVRXSeV

— FirstpostSports (@FirstpostSports) August 13, 2017

Fifth seed Svitolina, who beat Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza 4-6 6-4 6-3 in the quarter-finals, used a strong serve and forehand to control the tempo against Halep. The Romanian, who beat Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia 6-4 6-2 earlier on Saturday, showed some life in the sixth game of the second set when she fought off a match point and earned her only break but Svitolina quickly shut down any chance of a comeback. "It was a very tough match for me mentally because it was the second time I was playing on this court today," said Svitolina. "And physically it was very tough because she gets to lots of balls. I was just trying to be very focused on my game and just go for every shot."

.@ElinaSvitolina reaches THIRD Premier 5 Final of 2017! HIGHLIGHTS --> https://t.co/s09hfgpPWJ pic.twitter.com/AUE3e1PTTL— WTA (@WTA) August 12, 2017

Svitolina will go into the final against Wozniacki with plenty of confidence having a 2-0 career record against her. Wozniacki, riding high after ousting world number one Karolina Pliskova, beat American Sloane Stephens 6-2 6-3 to secure her spot in the final.

.@ElinaSvitolina knocks out Halep, 6-1, 6-1! Into @RogersCup Championship vs Wozniacki! pic.twitter.com/KHz3dzRwFP

— WTA (@WTA) August 12, 2017