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Halep bests Petkovic

June 5, 2014

Romania's Simona Halep has advanced to her first Grand Slam final after beating Andrea Petkovic of Germany 6-2, 7-6, (7/4). She will battle Russia's Maria Sharapova for the women's French Open title.

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Image: Reuters/Gonzalo Fuentes

Halep swept to victory against Petkovic on Thursday, ousting the German from the clay court in just 90 minutes.

"It's very emotional to win and reach my first Grand Slam final," said Halep after the match.

"I tried my best and did everything I could to win the match. Andrea's a great player," she said of her 28th seed opponent, "but I think I was a little bit stronger."

The win means the 22-year-old fourth seed will be the first Romanian woman to reach a Grand Slam final in 34 years. Halep had previously reached the fourth round at last year's US Open, then advanced to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open in January.

Halep will face Russia's Maria Sharapova on Saturday as the underdog as she has failed to beat the 2012 champion in three meetings. Sharapova lost to Serena Williams in last year's final.

The first title was awarded Thursday to unseeded Anna-Lena Grönefeld of Germany and Dutchman Jean-Julien Rojer who won the mixed doubles. They beat eighth seeds Julia Goerges of Germany and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia 4-6 6-2 10-7 in the final. Grönefeld had won the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon in 2009 with Mark Knowles of the Bahamas.

hc/crh (AP, AFP)