With the confidence radiating brighter from Simona Halep at each passing round, the former Wimbledon champion produced her performance of the tournament so far to dismantle Amanda Anisimova on Centre Court and reach the semi-finals at the All England Club. Halep has returned to the stage denied to her by Covid-19 and then injury and is looking every part for the favourite to reclaim her title after racing to a 6-2 6-4 victory in just 63 minutes.
Anisimova had been enjoying her best run at Wimbledon but for the most part was left stranded by the ruthlessness of Halep’s hitting from the back of the court. The 20-year-old American had found form and rhythm following impressive wins over Coco Gauff and Harmony Tan but her tally of 28 unforced errors contributed to almost half of the points won by Halep in the match.
A late rally from Anisimova was brief, as she broke Halep when she served for the match and then had three break points to level at 5-5. It led to Halep pounding her thigh in frustration but the poise and pressure from the back of the court returned and a backhand long from Anisimova sealed victory.
That is not to say the match was gifted to the Romanian, who broke down Anisimova’s game with a consistent thud of heavy forehands. This was Halep returning to her dominant form of three years ago as the world No 1, which culminated in her 2019 title on Centre Court.
Wimbledon is a tournament she feels at home in and after the struggles of the past two years, this resurgent former champion will take some stopping. Elena Rybakina awaits in Thursday’s semi-final and Halep, the only player remaining in the daw to have won a grand slam title, will be a heavy favourite.
On the other side of the draw, the stories of Ons Jabeur and Tatjana Maria may grab the attention, but in overturning this tough spell to reach her first semi-final in two years Halep’s journey is just as compelling. In the ups and downs of tennis, Halep had descended from the highest peak.
Few would have predicted what followed after her crushing win over Serena Williams in the 2019 final. Injuries led to a loss of form and confidence, and a split from coach Darren Cahill was significant too. She was unable to defend her title due to Covid, then injury last year. When she returned to Centre Court to thrash Paula Badosa in the previous round, it was the dominant Halep returning too.
Halep settled immediately to her familiar surroundings. The hitting from Halep was immense and forced Anisimova into 14 unforced errors in the opening set alone. Some of those, such as the misfires off the Halep serve, were jittery but on the whole it was Halep controlling the baseline rallies and it helped her to two opening breaks of serve.
The inaccuracy of Anisimova did not allow for a contest to emerge and Halep was ruthless in continuing to probe from the baseline with a series of flat groundstrokes that the American could not control. The errors mounted, leading to two further breaks of serve in the second set, and although Halep fought back from a late wobble. “It’s great to be back in the semi-finals,” she said. “I’m very emotional right now. It means a lot.” This was a cathartic victory, too.
