MONTREAL – It will be Simona Halep versus Madison Keys in the final of the US$2.4 million women’s Rogers Cup.
Halep, the fifth seed, defeated second-seed Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-0, 3-6, 6-2 in a semifinal Saturday at Uniprix Stadium to reach the Rogers Cup championship game for a second year in a row.
READ MORE: Venus Williams falls flat at Rogers Cup in Montreal
The Romanian dominated the first half, saw Kerber find momentum midway through the second set, then took over again in the third.
The 10th-seeded Keys needed only 50 minutes to end the Cinderella story of qualifier Kristina Kucova with a 6-2, 6-1 victory. Kucova, the world’s 112th-ranked player, had knocked off two seeded players as well as local favourite Eugenie Bouchard en-route to the semifinal in her career-best performance.
READ MORE: Bouchard exits Rogers Cup on home turf, says pressure got to her
Halep has won two of three matches against Keys, including in the round of 16 in Wimbledon in June.
“She hits the ball very strong,” Halep said of Keys. “Her serve is good. It will be not like today, with many rallies. In Wimbledon, the points were shorter. So I expect that I will not have a good rhythm because she can hit a winner and you don’t see the ball. But she can miss sometimes. I have to stay focused for every ball and not to be upset like today.”