Halep reaches first Wimbledon quarterfinal

Romania’s Simona Halep.   AP FILE PHOTO

LONDON — Simona Halep booked her first Wimbledon quarterfinal appearance as the Romanian third seed eased to a 6-3, 6-0 victory against Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas on Tuesday.

Halep had never been beyond the second round in her three visits to the All England Club, but the 22-year-old has been in fine form this year, reaching the French Open final last month, and she demolished world number 72 Diyas in just 57 minutes in a fourth round tie delayed from Monday due to bad weather.

The world number three, the highest seed left in the women’s draw, is only the second Romanian woman, after Virginia Ruzici in 1978 and 1981, to make it to the last eight at Wimbledon.

She will play German 19th seed Sabine Lisicki, last year’s beaten Wimbledon finalist, or Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova for a place in the semifinals.

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