Halep Becomes First Romanian Woman In A Wimbledon Final, Serena Upbeat

11th July 2019 - by AFP

The 27-year-old seventh seed, who was French Open champion in 2018, will be playing in her fifth Grand Slam final

Romania's Simona Halep returns against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina during their women's singles semi-final match on day ten of the 2019 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 11, 2019. PHOTO | AFP

SUMMARY

Simona Halep became the first Romanian woman to reach the Wimbledon final on Thursday when she defeated Ukraine's Elina Svitolina 6-1, 6-3
She will face either seven-time champion Serena Williams or unseeded Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic for the title
Serena Williams is in a good place, pain-free at last and 100 percent focused on winning Wimbledon, her coach Patrick Mouratoglou said Wednesday

LONDON, United Kingdom- Simona Halep became the first Romanian woman to reach the Wimbledon final on Thursday when she defeated Ukraine's Elina Svitolina 6-1, 6-3.

The 27-year-old seventh seed, who was French Open champion in 2018, will be playing in her fifth Grand Slam final.

She will face either seven-time champion Serena Williams or unseeded Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic for the title.

Serena Williams is in a good place, pain-free at last and 100 percent focused on winning Wimbledon, her coach Patrick Mouratoglou said Wednesday.

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Williams, 37, has worked incredibly hard to come back from giving birth, and multiple injury problems, in order to target Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 Grand Slam titles, he said.

Crucially, the American's trademark ability to raise her game to another level is back -- and she has found her rhythm once more, the coach said.

Williams, the 11th seed, takes on the Czech world number 54 Barbora Strycova on Thursday in the semi-finals.

"She's in a good place at the moment. She's happy," Mouratoglou told reporters.

"Her husband is here, her daughter is here, and she's pain-free now for three weeks.

"When you focus on your pain every day, it's very difficult to prepare well for tournaments.

"You compete with pain, so it's difficult to focus on the match because you're suffering.

"Now things are different. And when she's playing, she's 100 percent focusing on the game and on winning.