Simona Halep of Romania advanced to the semifinals of the Premier Mandatory BNP Paribas Open 2014 in Indian Wells on Wednesday after she eliminated qualifier Casey Dellacqua of Australia 6-2, 6-2. The sixth seed held all eight of her service games and broke her opponent’s serve four times. There were several instances that Dellacqua could have broken Halep’s serve but was unable to convert.
The win will guarantee a new career high in rankings for the Romanian tennis star. She will become world number five by Monday.
“Today was better than the last few matches,” Halep said. “I felt very good on the court. I was moving really well. I had no pressure, and I was more relaxed than I was in yesterday’s match.
“My game is to be aggressive and hit the balls, and I did much better than the days before.”
Though she reached the semifinals, Halep said that she’s not looking that far ahead.
“Winning the tournament is too far,” she said. “I have my chance and I’m trying to get it, but the next round will be very tough, so I just have to keep trying my best.”
Up next for Halep is number two seed Agnieszka Radwanska who defeated Jelena Jankovic in the other quarterfinal match.
