Tennis News: Simona Halep scores a perfect win against Coco Gauff to reach the Toronto semi-finals

Now, the two-time former champion leads the head-to-head record 4-0 against Gauff. They met for the first time at Gauff's breakthrough Wimbledon tournament in 2019, but the other three matches took place in 2022.

In addition, Halep has never lost a set against Gauff in their four meetings. In the second-set tiebreak of the one-hour and 47 minutes long match, Gauff won more than four games for the first time in a set.

Halep broke Gauff's serve six times, but the match changed its pace towards the end. Halep couldn't hold her serve twice, at 5-4 and 6-5, before fighting to win the tiebreak. 

Halep has secured her 29th career semi-final at a WTA 1000 event, ahead of Serena Williams (26), Agnieszka Radwanska (23), Victoria Azarenka (22) and Maria Sharapova (22). 

Furthermore, Halep is credited with a 51-23 career record against players from the United States, and her record in 2022 stands at 6-1. In addition, she has won the title twice in Montreal (2016 and 2018) and was a finalist in Toronto in 2015. 

Iga Swiatek was upset by Haddad Maia in Canadian Open last 16

Polish world number one Iga Swiatek lost to Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-4 3-6 7-5 at the Canadian Open on Thursday. In the opening set, Swiatek hit a double-fault, which earned the unseeded Haddad Maia a 3-2 lead. 

The Brazilian took the set with her strong serve and groundstrokes without facing a single break point. Swiatek saved five break points and held her serve in a 15-minute opening game of the second set.

She broke her opponent and took a 5-2 lead before forcing a decider. However, World number 24 Haddad Maia broke Swiatek three times in the third set. 

She broke Swiatek in the last game on her fourth match point, which landed her in the previous eight. Swiatek vowed to improve her game and play solid tennis at the next opportunity in Montreal. 

The French Open champion was on a winning streak lasting 37 matches, ending in the third round at Wimbledon in July. She attributed her poor performance in the last game to unfavourable weather conditions. 

Beatriz Haddad Maia then stunned 12th seed Belinda Bencic to reach the tournament's semi-finals. The Brazilian rallied from a set down to clinch a 2-6 6-3 6-3 victory over her Swiss opponent. 

Haddad Maia will now encounter the winner between 14th seed Karolina Pliskova and Chinese star Qinwen Zheng for a spot in the final.