Simona Halep reached her second Wimbledon semi-final on Tuesday with a 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 victory over China’s Zhang Shuai.

Halep, the seventh seeded former world No 1, will face Elina Svitolina, the eighth seed from Ukraine for a place in the final.

Svitolina reached her first Wimbledon semi-final on Tuesday with a 7-5, 6-4 win over unseeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. It will be the 24-year-old Ukrainian’s first Grand Slam semi-final.

Svitolina had been 5-2 down in the first set and also had to retrieve a break in the second before seeing off world number 68 Muchova.

For Svitolina breaking new ground in terms of her career is exciting enough.

“It feels amazing,” she enthused. “It is the first time in the semi-finals for me and I didn’t expect it would happen here. “It’s exciting and I’m looking forward to my semi-final already.”

Zhang, bidding to become just the second Chinese woman to reach the semi-finals, led 4-1 in the first set and held four break points for a 5-1 lead.

“I fought hard in the first set, even if I was down 4-1,” said 27-year-old Halep, a former French Open champion.

“I knew I had to be strong, play aggressive as much as possible and I did it great.

“I have energy, I feel fresh, I feel healthy, I feel confident when I step on the court.”

Romania’s Halep last made the last-four in 2014 when she was beaten by Eugenie Bouchard.