Third-seed Simona Halep defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 in the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Open on Friday (21 August)

Script: Romania's Simona Halep met Russian number 4 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Open .

In the first set, it was the Russian who looked the stronger as she took a 4-2 lead.

But Halep forced a tie-break and after over an hour of play, eventually took the first set 7-6.

Despite needing strapping on her foot, the momentum was firmly with the World number 3, she cruised through the second set, only dropping two games as she dispatched her opponent.

She meets Jelena Jankovic in the last four, and should her winning streak continue, she will re-claim the number two ranking from an injured Maria Sharapova if she makes it into the final.

This means she will not face number one seed Serena Williams until the final of the final Grand Slam of the year - the US Open.