Simona Halep edges past Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to reach semi-finals

Simona Halep has secured her place in the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Open courtesy of a straight-sets victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

The two players battled out a tight encounter in the first set as they both earned breaks of serve, but neither could secure a second as the set went to a tie-breaker.

Halep upped the ante in the tie-breaker and displayed quality in the crucial moments to take it 7-3 and with it the set.

The number three seed took the game to Pavlyuchenkova's serve in the second set to secure four breaks and managed to hold her own serve under pressure from the Russian to notch a 6-2 win.

Halep will play Jelena Jankovic in the last four of the competition.