(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula
Doha: Simona Halep reached the Qatar Open semifinals with a dominating win then promptly withdrew with a right foot injury yesterday.
After beating American qualifier Catherine Bellis 6-0, 6-4, Halep announced her withdrawal from today's semis, when she was scheduled to play Garbine Muguruza.
Halep's withdrawal means world number four Muguruza will play in tomorrow's final.
Muguruza beat Caroline Garcia of France 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.
Later, world number one Caroline Wozniacki suffered a mid-match blip before getting past Angelique Kerber 7-6(4),1-6 6-3. She next faces the winner of the quarter-final between double Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and Julia Goerges.
No. 2-ranked Halep could have regained the No. 1 ranking this week if she went one round further than Wozniacki.
'I am surprised that I could play three matches and win them, Halep, the 2014 champion, said.
'I felt pain every day, so it was not easy to manage it.
'I didn't have much time to recover before this tournament, but today was too much, and I decided to stop.
'The MRI shows I have fluid and also tendinitis at the fourth toe, so I have to take care of it and think about my health first, she said.
Halep also withdrew from next week's Dubai Open, another tournament she has won, and said she did not expect to be back on court for more than two weeks, until Indian Wells.
Halep relinquished No. 1 after losing to Wozniacki in the Australian Open final.
Halep added that she would not return to action until Indian Wells at the earliest, which begins next month.
'Definitely until Indian Wells I will not play anything. I will decide before the tournament if I will be able to play I understand ideal wells. For the moment I cannot say much.
'I have to take day by day and to see if I can recover until Indian Wells. I need rest, because I didn't stay, and this injury needs rest, she said while talking to reporters.
Earlier, Muguruza came from a set down to defeat No.7 seed Caroline Garcia and move into her first semifinal of the season.
Muguruza came from a set down to win 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.
The two-time Grand Slam champion hadn't won back-to-back matches in any of her first three tournaments of the season in Australia, but that's changed this week in Qatar.
To reach her first semifinal of the season, Muguruza had to navigate her way past a game Garcia, who was on form over the first 11 games of the match.
From 1-1 in the second set, however, the Spaniard upped her level, winning five straight games to send the match through to a decider. In the final set, Muguruza earned the decisive break in the fifth game, and won 10 of the last 11 points played on her serve to clinch victory - which included a key hold out of 0-40 in the eight game of the set.
'I'm happy overall with the match because even though in the first set she played very well, this kind of game and match changes a lot, Muguruza said after the match.
'I knew that if I kept concentrated and fighting, it could turn around. I also started to play a little bit better, and that helped.
'I think we were playing longer rallies, and I found myself in a better position, playing my shots and also going for my shots...so I gave her a little bit of trouble, the Spaniard added.
'I didn't play a lot of matches, and this is actually the first match, I guess, that I play against a Top 10 this year, she said. 'It was a good level from both of us.
Muguruza was plagued by injury in the warmup to the Australian Open, as she was forced to retire against Aleksandra Krunic in Brisbane and withdrew prior to a second-round match against Daria Gavrilova in Sydney.
In Melbourne, the World No.4 fell in the second round to Hsieh Su-wei, and she hadn't played a match in the three weeks since before arriving in Doha.
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