Simona Halep o invinge pe Sloane Stephens   cu  6:1, 7:5   ,  şi o va intilni pe  Serena Williams  in  semifinalele  turneului de  la Miami !

    Simona Halep beat WTA Rising Star Sloane Stephens to round out the final four at the Miami Open and set up an absolute blockbuster semifinal against Serena Williams. Simona Halep closed out Sloane Stephens on Wednesday night to round out the final four at the Miami Open and set up an absolute blockbuster semifinal against Serena Williams.

Halep came out on fire against Stephens, building a 6-1, 3-0 lead in about 40 minutes and looking headed for a comprehensive straight set win. Stephens showed a lot of fight from there, making the second set anything but comprehensive - she took five of the next six games to go up 5-4 second set.

But the No.3-seeded Halep finished strong, closing out the American WTA Rising Star, 6-1, 7-5.

"The beginning of the match was really fast. I think I was really playing my best tennis," Halep said in her on-court interview. "She came back and changed the tactics, playing a little bit slower, and I lost my rhythm for a little bit. But I'm happy I could get it back and win the match in two sets in the end."

Awaiting Halep in Thursday's semifinals will be the No.1-seeded Williams, who won a see-saw three-setter against No.27-seeded Sabine Lisicki earlier in the day (read more about that match here).

Williams leads Halep in their head-to-head series, 4-1, but that one loss was painful - in the round robin portion of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global last year, Williams lost to Halep, 6-0, 6-2, which was the equal-worst loss of her entire career in terms of games won. It was also the first time in the history of the WTA where a Romanian beat the reigning No.1 player in the world.

She rebounded very well when they played a few days later in the final though, winning, 6-3, 6-0.

"I'll remember beating her all my life because it was such a good match for me," Halep said. "I have to believe I can win again against her - I just have to go out there and believe I have a chance.

"I have nothing to lose tomorrow. She's the best player in the world."

Williams and Halep were set to have their first meeting in 2015 two weeks ago in the semifinals of Indian Wells, but Williams was forced to withdraw before the match due to a right knee injury.

"I look forward to it because I didn't get to play her last time," Williams said. "I was disappointed to not be able to play, and just not even be close to 100%. So I look forward to playing her this time."

**  WTA