Defeat of Petkovic brings Halep one step closer to historic title

Petkovic left to reflect on run to semi-finals after bowing out in French Open qualifying last year

Romania's Simona Halep returns the ball to Germany's Andrea Petkovic during their French Open semi-final at Roland Garros in Paris on June 5, 2014. Miguel Medina / AFP

Paris // Simona Halep became the first Romanian woman to reach a grand slam final in 34 years on Thursday when she beat Andrea Petkovic 6-2, 7-6 to set up a French Open title clash against Maria Sharapova.

The last Romanian in a final at a major was Halep's manager, Virginia Ruzici, who was champion at Roland Garros in 1978 and then finished runner-up two years later to Chris Evert.

Halep, a former world junior No 1, had never previously reached the third round in Paris, but the woman voted the most-improved player of 2013 has raced through the tournament without losing a set.

Despite her higher ranking, Halep will start as the outsider against the seventh-seeded Sharapova in Saturday's final.

The Russian is in her third Roland Garros final, having won the title in 2012, and holds a 3-0 record over Halep, although the latter pushed her to three sets in the Madrid final earlier this year.

“It’s very emotional to win and reach my first grand slam final,” Halep said.

“Andrea’s a great player but I think I was a little bit stronger. I tried my best and did everything I could to win the match.”

She knows she will have to improve against four-time major winner Sharapova, who made the final for the third year in a row.

“In Madrid, I took the first set. I played my style and was aggressive. But then I played too far behind the baseline, so I will need to open up the court,” Halep said.

On Thursday, she was ahead 4-1 in just 14 minutes, courtesy of two breaks of the 28th-seeded German, who was also playing in her first major semi-final. Halep fired three aces in the opening set and allowed Petkovic, 26, just seven points off her serve.

Petkovic, who spent two and a half hours more on court than Halep while getting to this stage, can still reflect on a successful tournament.

The former world No 9 was ranked 177th last March after battling a series of knee and back injuries, and she failed to get out of qualifying for the 2013 Roland Garros event.

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