The Latest: Simona Halep reaches her 1st Wimbledon final

The Latest at Wimbledon (all times local):

2:20 p.m.

Simona Halep has reached her first Wimbledon final.

The former No. 1 advanced to Saturday’s championship match at the All England Club by beating Elina Svitolina 6-1, 6-3 on Centre Court.

Halep broke Svitolina three times in the first set, and then again to take a 4-3 lead in the second. She won the match with another break in the final game.

The seventh-seeded Romanian won the French Open last year, and has reached the final at Roland Garros on two other occasions. She also reached the Australian Open final in 2018, but her previous best at the All England Club had been a spot in the semifinals in 2014.

Halep will face either seven-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams or Barbora Strycova in the final.

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1:40 p.m.

Rafael Nadal’s run to the Wimbledon semifinals has allowed him to qualify for the ATP Finals for a record 15th consecutive year.

Nadal is the first man to clinch a spot in the season-ending tournament, which will be held Nov. 10-17 in London.

Novak Djokovic can also put himself in the field if he repeats as Wimbledon champion.

Nadal carries a 17-match winning streak — which includes his 12th French Open title — into his semifinal against Roger Federer at the All England Club on Friday.

Djokovic faces Roberto Bautista Agut in the other semifinal.

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1:10 p.m.

Play has started in the first women’s semifinal on Centre Court between No. 7 Simona Halep and No. 8 Elina Svitolina.

Halep is a former No. 1 who won the French Open last year.

Svitolina is making her debut in a Grand Slam semifinal.

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8:10 a.m.

Back on Centre Court and back in the semifinals of a major tournament, Serena Williams will take on Barbora Strycova at Wimbledon.

Williams is trying to win an eighth title at the All England Club and a 24th Grand Slam trophy overall — an achievement that would equal Margaret Court’s all-time record.

The 33-year-old Strycova had been pondering retirement this year but now is the oldest first-time major semifinalist in the professional era. It took her 53 major tournaments to get this deep.

In the first semifinal, also on Centre Court, former No. 1 Simona Halep will face Elina Svitolina.

Like Strycova, Svitolina has never before been to the final four at a major tournament.

Halep won the French Open last year and is trying to reach her fifth major final.

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More AP tennis coverage: https://www.apnews.com/apf-Tennis and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports



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