Top seed Simona Halep and defending champion Elina Svitolina remain on course to meet in the Coupe Rogers final after both women progressed in straight sets on Friday.
Halep, the world No.1, beat French sixth seed Caroline Garcia 7-5 6-1 in Montreal and goes on to face Australian Ash Barty in the last four.
Barty, the 15th seed, swept past Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 6-3 6-1.
“I never played against [Barty], so I don’t really know what to expect,” Halep, the 2016 champion in Canada, told wtatour.com.
.@Simona_Halep is semifinal-bound!
She downs Garcia, 7-5, 6-1 at @CoupeRogers! pic.twitter.com/PTGJK10jQY
— WTA (@WTA) August 11, 2018
“But I know she’s very talented. She’s moving okay. I just have to talk to my coach tomorrow before the match, trying to stay stronger on my legs, and trying to be with the energy at the highest level as possible.”
On the other half of the draw, Svitolina recovered from a slow start to defeat Belgian 14th seed Elise Mertens 7-5 6-3.
The Ukrainian next faces US Open champion Sloane Stephens, a 6-2 6-2 winner over Anastasija Sevastova.
“It’s going to be exciting,” said Svitolina.
“[Stephens] came back; you know, she’s playing great since. It’s going to be another tough semifinal match. I’m just very happy the way I was playing today. I’m happy to be again in semifinal [of the] Rogers Cup.”
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