Top seed Simona Halep took the first semi -final berth at the Italian Open on Saturday when Kazakh rival Yulia Putintseva retired during their match on Saturday.
The world number two was leading 6- 2, 2-0 in the quarter- final clash on clay in Rome when Putintseva signaled that she was retiring after 45 minutes of play with a lower back injury .
Putintseva, ranked 30, had reached the quarter- finals of the recent hardcourt US Open , a tournament which Halep skipped because of coronavirus concerns.
Halep next meets either Belarussian Victoria Arazenka or Spaniard Garbine Muguruza for a place in the final of the clay -court tournament.
It is the fifth time that former French Open champion Halep has reached the last four in Rome .
The Wimbledon champion was runner -up to Elina Svitolina in the 2017 and 2018 finals.
Matches from Sunday ’ s semi -finals will be played in front of 1, 000 spectators with the action up to now in front of empty stands at the Foro Italico .
( AFP)
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