Simona Halep took a step nearer overhauling Garbine Muguruza as world number one when the Romanian raced into the semi-finals of the China Open on Friday.
The second-ranked Halep eased past Russia’s unseeded Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 6-1 in Beijing and will face compatriot Sorana Cirstea or Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko in the last four.
The Spaniard Muguruza’s short stay at the top is under severe threat after she bowed out in the first round in the Chinese capital with a virus.
Halep is in red-hot form and claimed the scalp of former number one Maria Sharapova in the previous round – beating the Russian at the eighth attempt. Halep had beaten Sharapova 6-2 6-2 in their third round match, after the Russian had been granted a wild card.
Agnieszka Radwanska was the defending champion in 2016, but lost to unseeded Russian Daria Kasatkina in the third round.
