Wimbledon: Elena Rybakina sets up final showdown with Ons Jabeur, beats Simona Halep 6-3, 6-3
Elena Rybakina defeated Simona Halep in straight sets to advance to the final of women's singles.
Elena Rybakina defeated 16th seed Simona Halep 6-3, 6-3 to advance to her first-ever Grand Slam final on Thursday.
Rybakina will face Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, who became the first African woman, and the first Arab player, to reach a Grand Slam final when she defeated Tatjana Maria in three sets earlier.
The 23-year-old Rybakina is the youngest Wimbledon finalist since 2015 when Garbiñe Muguruza lost to Serena Williams.
Halep, the 2018 French Open champion, had reached the semifinals without dropping a set but was broken early in both sets.
Halep was caught in the crosshairs of an onslaught from the Russian-born Kazakh, who pummelled her Romanian opponent with rasping serves and savage forehands.
Halep, the champion in 2019, did not help her cause, with a string of double faults to hand Rybakina chances at key moments.
The 30-year-old Romanian wasn’t able to defend her Wimbledon title last year — after the 2020 edition was canceled — because of a calf injury.