Halep holds off Gauff to reach Toronto semifinals

TORONTO (AP) — Two-time champion Simona Halep beat Coco Gauff 6-4, 7-6 (2) on Friday to reach the National Bank Open semifinals.

Halep, the 30-year-old from Romania, won the event in Montreal in 2016 and 2018. She will face seventh-seeded Jessica Pegula, a 6-3, 6-3 winner over Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.

The 15th-seeded Halep is 4-0 against the Gauff, the 18-year-old American seeded 10th.

In the night session, 12th-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland faced Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil, and 14th-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic played Zheng Qinwen of China.