Simona Halep and Andrea Petkovic ease into French Open semi-finals

PAndrea Petkovic beat 2012 French Open runner-up Sara Errani and Simona Halep defeates 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova on women's side while Andy Murray and defending champion Rafael Nadal also advance into semi-finals.

Simona Halep of Romania celebrates after beating Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia during their quarter-final match at Roland Garros. Christophe Karaba / EPA

PARIS // Andrea Petkovic and Simona Halep completed the French Open semi-final pairings with straight-sets wins on Wednesday, meaning one of them will reach a grand slam tournament final for the first time.

Petkovic, a 28th-seeded German, beat 2012 French Open runner-up Sara Errani of Italy 6-2, 6-2. The fourth-seeded Halep, from Romania, defeated 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, also 6-2, 6-2.

“I have to say, today I was in a real zone. I didn’t think at all,” Petkovic said. “I was just focused on what I had to do.”

Neither Petkovic nor Halep has ever played in the semi-finals of a grand slam tournament. But they will meet on Thursday with a spot in the final against either Maria Sharapova or Eugenie Bouchard on the line.

Petkovic was first to complete her match on a wet day at Roland Garros and, although she had some trouble holding serve at the start of each set, her groundstrokes consistently landed near the lines, many of them were winners.

“I had a very good game plan from my coach. It didn’t work in the beginning, so I was getting a little – not panicked – but when you have a certain game plan and you lose the first two games and it’s not working – so I was kind of getting a little worried,” Petkovic said.

“I was lucky that I started playing better and that I was putting more balls into play.”

The match on Court Philippe Chatrier, the main stadium at Roland Garros, started under overcast skies after a three-hour delay. With Errani leading 2-1 but facing a break point, the rain returned.

Play continued despite the conditions and Petkovic broke with a forehand winner on her second break opportunity.

The drizzle continued until the changeover with Petkovic leading 5-2. By the time the second set started, the sun was out.

Although Petkovic was broken to open each set, she won the final six games of the first set and the final four games of the second.

“Very, very tired. I didn’t have, mentally, [any] energy,” Errani said.

“I don’t know why I was dead. I [didn’t] have power [in] my legs.”

Petkovic had been 0-3 in major quarter-finals, losing at that stage at the Australian Open, French Open and US Open in 2011. Her ranking dropped after that, as low as 177th last year, because of a right knee injury.

Russian Kuznetsova, a two-time grand slam title champion, who has not reached a major semi-final since winning the title at Roland Garros five years ago, said the weather was not to blame for her poor play.

“You can put many excuses or whatever, but I think the key is that Simona was at her best,” Kuznetsova said. “My movement was not perfect. The shots [were] not so good.”

Nadal and Murray advance on men’s side

Rafael Nadal rallied to advance to the French Open semifinals for the ninth time, beating David Ferrer 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, 6-1 on Wednesday. In the other quarter-final,

The eight-time champion at Roland Garros lost the first set, but then seemed to race through the next three to ensure he had the day off on Thursday.

Nadal will face either Andy Murray or Gael Monfils in the semifinals.

Nadal improved his record to 64-1 at the French Open, and stretched his unbeaten streak to 33. His only loss came in the fourth round of the 2009 tournament, when Robin Soderling beat him.

Meanwhile, Andy Murray defeated the last French hope Gael Monfils on a rowdy Philippe Chatrier centre court Wednesday to reach the French Open semi-finals 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 1-6, 6-0.

The Wimbledon champion reaches the last four at Roland Garros for the first time since 2011 when he lost against Rafael Nadal, and now faces the eight-time champion again in a bid to reach the championship match for the first time in Paris.

Nadal overpowered fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, 6-1 in the day’s second quarter-final that finished just before dusk, as rain delayed play by three hours.

The 27-year-old Scot also set a new British record of reaching 14 Grand Slam semi-finals, going one better than Fred Perry.

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